Trials of a Goddess
by Zeromaru Chaos Mode
Summary: After the events of The Red Wand, Aura now must find the missing segments of Xenmaru, adjust to being complete...along with growing as a living being. Data or no...can she handle the life of a psudo human?
1. Prologue

**Trials of a Goddess**

**Prologue**

Roughly a week after the meeting at the stone, everyone got a rather cryptic e-mail from Morgana.

"Come to **Theta: Beyond Reality's Scope**."

Of course, they all immediately logged into The World. Considering that the message consisted of only that one sentence, it was deemed important. One by one, they all appeared in the afformentioned area. However, they had walked right into an argument between Aura and Zefie.

"Mother please!"

"You have so little faith in me Zefie?"

"It's not that, you know it isn't! I just don't think you can handle fighting such enemies! They're stronger than the AIDA beast ever could have been! And THAT was only defeated because of Xenmaru!"

"I can take care of myself Zefie!"

"Tell that to Skeith!"

Aura shot her daughter a heated glare. She turned away from the blonde and stalked over to the bed. Immediately she pulled her dress over her head, something that surprised all who were watching. She had her back turned to the group however, so all they saw was her undergarments.

Ever the pervert, Kuhn whispered to himself. "Nice ass…"

Of course that got him a smack upside the head from Pai…and Atoli…and surprisingly Ovan.

She took off her bra, something that made everyone's eyes widen, and put on a white corset. Over that she threw on a black leather vest. She pulled on a black skirt that reached half-way to her knees, and pulled on a pair of black combat boots. She twirled her finger in the air, and a red ribbon appeared. She pulled her hair into a ponytail, securing it with the ribbon, tied in a very neat bow. She slipped on a pair of fingerless gloves that reached all the way to her elbows. She turned to Zefie.

"Not strong enough huh?"

Zefie took a step back.

(Play NiGHTS into Dreams: Nights and Reala – theme of a tragedic revenge)

Zefie changed the step to a leap just as Aura vanished from view. Not even a second after she moved, a loud booming noise, and a crapload of dust shot through the area. When the dust cleared, everyone saw Aura floating up from a rather large crater in the ground. She flung her left arm to the side and a crackling orb of energy formed around her hand. She launched the orb forward, only to have it split into multiple streaks of light. Zefie's hands shot out, forming a barrier that blocked the repeated strikes of the attack.

Everyone watched as Aura dashed to the side, curving in on Zefie, to deliver a lightning quick punch. Zefie barely moved her head out of the way in time, only to have to back-flip as Aura followed up with a back kick using her left leg. She twirled in place, and hopped off her leg to spin and knock Zefie to the side with another kick. The blonde flipped in the air and landed on her feet, putting up her arms to block a punch from her elder.

Aura pulled her fist back, and launched her left hand forward to grab Zefie's arm. She then charged her right hand with a sphere of energy, and slammed it into the blonde's exposed chest. The younger girl went flying back, but recovered.

_Time to try out that one move that I got from him…_

Aura leapt forward…and then vanished. Suddenly she re-appeared in front of Zefie…but did nothing. Surprising everyone, another Aura appeared next to her, and then another on her right, and another behind. They were all still moving, in fact, they were moving around the girl in a zig-zag like pattern. Hundreds of Aura images appeared around Zefie, confusing not only her, but everyone else too.

_Now!_

The images vanished, just as Aura slammed her foot into Zefie's chin, from below her. The move acted like an uppercut, and Zefie went flying into the air.

"I'm not done yet!"

She flipped backward and leapt into the air, striking the blonde in the chest with her right fist, then with her left, then her right, and repeating the motion until the girl was being propelled farther into the air. Aura then fell back, only to land on a glowing purple glyph that shot her back up. She slammed her knee into the blonde's stomach, and twisted to kick her with the back of her leg, sending her away. Aura put her feet behind her, another purple glyph appearing in the air, and again, propelling her after Zefie. Aura glowed silver, as sparks of electricity seemed to fly off her for a few moments.

In mid flight, her left hand began glowing, as she slammed it into Zefie's side, making the blonde begin spinning in the air. Aura's momentum shot her over the blonde, but she grabbed Zefie's arm, and began spinning. After a few moments, she used the momentum of her actions to launch Zefie to the ground where the girl crashed with a loud boom and a LOT of dust.

"This attack…"

Those that could, immediately shot their heads up to Aura.

"I learned…from **him!**"

She raised her right arm and made a fist. A dome of blue energy surrounded her, and then localized itself in her right fist.

"**Owari!"**

She shot to the ground, blue energy trailing behind her. Time seemed to freeze just before she struck. The light in her fist shined.

"**Shougeki Nagareboshi!"**

Time resumed and she slammed her fist into Zefie. A beam of blue light shot into the sky from where she landed and then expanded, creating a HUGE explosion of energy that erupted into the air.

The group rushed to the battle area, as Aura rose backing away from Zefie. The blonde girl groaned and opened her eyes.

"Alright…I take it back…you can handle it."

"That's what I thought."

Haseo was the first to speak.

"I think I stand for everyone when I ask- WHAT THE HELL JUST HAPPENED HERE?!"

Aura gave a disarming smile. "Oh just a family squabble."

"You call THAT, a family squabble?! I'm almost afraid to know what you're like when you're actually FIGHTING."

Zefie slowly got up.

"That move…you said…you learned it from him?"

"More like Alicia learned it…he's got a far stronger version of it…a lot more damaging…and a heck of a lot more brutal."

"So that was your version."

"Yep!"

"Dear god what has he released…"

"Hey!"

* * *

Hello again everyone. Yes, I know I stated I wouldn't start this till the third game came out in US…but that would take too long, and I've got too much stuff for this in my head. 

As you may or may not have noticed, Aura's acting a bit…out of character. Well, that's intentional. The premise of this story is going to be about her growth as a being, and the changes that come about from the merge. If anything, think of her as a massively powerful hormonal teenager. She's going to be adapting traits from many characters, Xenmaru especially. I hope you can all handle it. The quest for the pieces of Xenmaru is gonna be one wild ride!

Oh yeah…Yellow, Red, Green, Blue, Black or White? I want an idea of where to start. So reviewers, pick a color. I'll give it maybe a week or so after the first review comes in. The color that gets the most picks is where I'll officially start the story. Have fun!

Oh just a warning, while waiting for inspiration for this, i might be sidetracked by the freakin Sonic the Hedgehog fanfic idea i have running through my mind. So even when i do start getting things straight, it might take a bit considering it's hammering into my brain.

**Shougeki Nagareboshi: Impact Meteor **or **Meteor Impact**


	2. Information

She sat there, on the edge of the platform, staring into the abyss.

She tucked an errant strand of hair behind her ear, away from her eyes. She came here often, to think. Behind her, a glowing red A was on the ground, in the center of a circle, which was surrounded by pillars. Her legs dangled over the edge. She knew that if she jumped, she would simply die and have to restart from her last save. She always considered jumping, just to see how far down she'd fall before the death screen would appear…but she never did.

This place…this was where she thought she'd find the answer…to saving Sirius. But she was tricked. _That bitch Bordeaux. _Sirius…was a pillar of strength to her. And he was taken…turned into a crazed beast because of his lust for power. _But that's over now…yet even so…he's changed. Everyone can tell. He's no longer who he used to be…barely plays anymore…_

The red haired twin blade found this place surprisingly relaxing. Though it was the place she was knocked into her coma…the fact that at least in game continuity, it was a field of battle, where many lives ended…a place where spirits rested…it was…comforting…to know that she was once among the fallen that rest here.

However…that peace…was about to be forever disturbed…as memories of a past friend returned forcefully…and in a way she'd never have expected.

**PING**

"What the hell?"

(Play Golden Sun: The Elemental Stars)

The sky turned red. The girl got to her feet, and looked around. Suddenly, a blinding light shone from the air. From the sky, shining brilliantly, a glowing red orb floated down. It landed in the center of the area, directly in the middle of the circle that held the Sign.

_It…can't be…is that…?_

The orb settled…however it pulsed with light, and fired a series of beams towards the ground. The ground around it warped and shifted, sending a wave along it. The girl fell to her knees, her rather ample bust bouncing with the motion. She looked up, and gasped.

_K-Kira?_

In front of her stood a girl with long orange hair. A pair of fox ears adorned her head, and three bushy dark orange tails flowed behind her. She wore practically nothing. A very short skirt, a pair of sandals, a bra, and a vest were all that covered her. Piercing blue eyes gazed along the area. Her head snapped to the other girl's direction when she spoke.

"Kira?"

"You know my name. How?"

"I…uh…"

"Speak mortal. Lest I silence you forever."

The red haired girl stood, and took a deep breath to calm herself.

"I knew your master. You've not been seen for over five years. What happened?"

"That is information I cannot give you. You claim to have known my master, yet you counter that claim with speaking that you know not what has happened recently."

"I haven't…been in contact with him…for a few years…honestly…I nearly forgot about him."

"I am here to guard a precious object of my master's. If you wish for it, you must challenge me."

_Crap! I can't fight her alone! She'd probably put me in a coma again! _"I wish not to challenge you at this time. I ask that you allow me the chance to leave in peace."

"Very well, but do not return unless you wish to do battle. This area is under my protection now, only those who wish to fight can enter. I only allow you this chance to leave…due to the fact that you speak truth. I sense you do…or did…know my master. Be gone from this land."

"I thank you."

And the redhead walked to the Chaos Gate, looking back only once.

_Something's going on here. Why is Kira here?_

Her last thought before activating the warp…

_Has something happened to you…Zero?_

**Trials of a Goddess**

**Chapter I: Learning of the Past.**

Aura was currently area hopping. She was looking for any sign of the gems. Zefie was back at the clearing, doing whatever it was that girl did when she was alone. _Honestly…I don't know WHAT she's been up to…she said it would help when we had to fight…but really, that could mean anything._

In her new outfit, she blended in rather nicely with the other players. As much as she liked her old dress, she knew from experience that it wasn't practical for battle. Not to mention she stood out too obviously. It was in one of the normal areas that she got a message from Haseo.

She read it mentally. _Aura, I've got some good information. But in order to get it, Alkaid needs to talk to you personally. She'll share it with all of us, but she's demanding you be there before she talks. I didn't even know she knew of you…I probably told her then forgot, sorry. Come back as soon as you can. She's waiting, but I'm actually afraid she might start attacking someone soon, she's kinda fidgeting around, and that's not like her._

_Hmm…Alkaid…she was one of the groups that helped Haseo get to Cubia…Information? Well, it couldn't hurt to find out…we ARE kinda running blind._

She opened a rift directly to the clearing that the Monolith stood, and hopped through.

**Theta: Restoring Lovers Dream**

Alkaid was pacing. An action very much unlike her. So many questions rang through her head. The meeting with the Kitsune, Kira the day before had confused and worried her. Something was wrong, and yet again Haseo was involved. _I knew there was a reason I hung around with him…_

**PING**

A glowing rift appeared in the sky.

"Put some haaaaaay!"

**CRASH**

Aura landed right on top of Kite. The two of them groaned. "What…the hell…that was NOT supposed to happen…"

She got up slowly. "Ahh, sorry Kite…"

"It's…ok…not unlike being smacked over the head with Black Rose's swords back in the day…"

The group laughed.

_Huh…even Shino is here…_

"Alright…so what's the emergency."

Yata filled her in.

"Apparently, Alkaid here encountered one of the gems we seek."

Aura eyes widened, and her head snapped to the girl. "Is that true?"

Alkaid stared at the AI. "Yes, but I won't tell you where until I get some answers."

Aura nodded, not surprised. She was wondering what she would tell the girl…when the choice was taken out of her hands entirely.

"Why the FUCK was Kira there?!"

(Play Final Fantasy VII AC: For the Reunion)

Everyone flinched in surprise.

"Kira?"

"Yes, Kira! One of Zero's Six Guardians, the Bearer of Flame and Protector of Courage! KIRA! Why was she there! She shouldn't exist anymore!"

Everyone save Shino, who didn't really know what was going on, was shocked.

"You…knew Zero?"

"He was a couple years my senior in school…We hung out a lot for a couple years…and then he left…started work. I heard someone named Zero died…but the channel was changed too fast for me to catch the last name. A day ago, I come face to face with Kira! What the hell happened to Zero that would cause _HER _to show up again!"

"Kira? Guardian? What's going on Ovan?"

Alkaid explained, something that again surprised everyone with her knowledge.

"Kira is one of the Six Mentality Shifts an old friend of mine, Zero Shinzaki had. Something…happened to him that forced his mind to split into seven pieces. Those pieces were Kira: Bearer of Flame, and Protector of the Ideya of Courage; Chaos, Bearer of Water, God of Destruction, and Protector of the Ideya of Intelligence; Anubis, Bearer of Earth, modeled after the Egyptian God and Protector of the Ideya of Hope; Weapon, Bearer of Wind and Protector of the Ideya of Wisdom; Lucied, Guardian of Desire, Bearer of Darkness, and Protector of the Ideya of Honor; and Juri, Bearer of Light, created as the little sister he never had, and Protector of the Ideya of Purity."

Aura stared at the girl. "How do you know so much about him?"

"Because I was there while he had them, and I was there when they vanished. Hell I was the one consoling him, they were like his family!"

"But…they were just figments of his imagination weren't they?"

"No…they were living beings…created from the shattering of his psyche. He always was pretty strong mentally, very strong willed, you could never get him to do something he didn't want to do…and one day, it was just too much for him. Too many things happening at once. Where most people would shut down, he fragmented in a way that allowed him to keep going…and even see things in ways that others wouldn't."

"What do you mean?"

"It was an advantage…he was given basically seven minds at once. Seven _different _minds. Three Male, Three Female, the perfect balance. He'd see things through his eyes, but then he'd be able to see them through up to six other sets of thoughts as well. It let him solve a LOT of problems easily. Hell, he became popular in school solely for the fact that he, although classified by most of the student population, teachers included, as insane, he was able to figure out practically any course of action for a problem you presented to him. He solved lover's spats, parental issues, time balancing problems…you name it he was able to come up with an idea of how to solve it."

"Damn…I could use one of those…"

The group laughed.

"A lot of people did. Most of them didn't even like him, but respected his ability. But…he knew they weren't supposed to exist…so he found a way to absorb them back into himself…but the shock…the sheer mental backlash of absorbing six fully developed minds into one…he almost went nuts…and I was there for it. He eventually recovered, finished his classes, and graduated…and I never saw him again. Hell I nearly forgot about him…until I saw Kira."

Aura nodded…and explained to Alkaid, and Shino, what had transpired the past month.

"You mean to tell me…that HE was the Shinigami?!"

"Yeah…"

"God…DAMMIT! He was here all this time…I even FOUGHT alongside him…and I didn't even know it?!"

"You fought with him?"

"Yeah…one of my attempts at becoming emperor in my early days. I joined a party with him, and some random cleric…we got pretty far…we lost in the Final Match, but just barely. Damn…I didn't even know it was him…"

"You said you ran into Kira…where?"

"Kira…the Guardian of Courage…is in the Coite-Bodher Battlefield…"

* * *

I'm ending it here. Honestly, I could go on and write the battle as well…but I think it's best to let it sink in that Alkaid knew our hero. Originally I had planned to throw an OC in here…but then I thought about it…REALLY thought about it. I could use a canon character instead…on that track I thought of Shino…but she's too tied to Ovan to have known Zero that well…and then I thought Alkaid. This chapter is to hold you guys over, a bit of back-story of Zero's along with who it is that Aura and the others will be fighting. You'll get to see a rather nice battle next chapter.

AzureDolphin: Red it is. Like I said, I might not update anywhere near as fast as I did with The Red Wand…mostly due to real life dealings, and that the more often I get reviews and the like the more it drills into my head to work on the next chapter. .hack's a niche fanbase, so not many come in. For me, reviews are kinda like a reminder that people are waiting for the next chapter. Like a kick in the ass saying "GET TO WORK DAMMIT!"

Yamimaru: Red wins.

Wolfy: Sorry, Red wins…and as such, Blue will follow to counter…however, if nobody votes later on, I might just do green as the third since you mentioned it.

Acron1: Oh it won't be the last time…


	3. Kira

**Trials of a Goddess**

**Chapter II: Kira, the Fire of Courage**

**Lost Ground: Coite-Bodher Battle Field**

Three orbs of blue-white light appeared at the platform holding the blue sphere that allowed for transportation between areas. Three young women stepped out of the shadows. One, with silver-white hair, with light purple streaks, another, with Blonde hair with black streaks, and a third, with short red hair.

One was the most powerful AI in existence, Aura.

One was a Vagrant AI, created by Aura to be her Daughter, Zefie.

And the third, was a normal female twin-blade, one who knew the most about the opponent they were to fight, Alkaid.

The three girls had come to an agreement. Since their opponent was derived from the mind of a very honorable male…well…at times at least; it was understood that only three should tackle this fight. Alkaid insisted she come along. She wanted answers, and she wanted to see for herself the true power of the creations of her old friend. Aura, being basically the leader of the recovery effort was going to fight for the chance to gain back the being her other half fell for. And Zefie…because she wanted a chance to show her skills…

The others…the Infinity Eight…plus the extras, would watch from view screens in Aura's "room." However not all could make it. Haseo had work, Saku needed rest, and Aina…was missing. Ovan had explained she stayed up late the previous night, looking for clues…and slept in.

So there they were…standing before the nearly naked girl that represented Zero's Courage.

"So…I see you have returned. I wonder though, have you not heeded my warning? Or are you here to fight?"

"I wish we didn't have to fight…but we need that Crystal."

The scantly clad red-head stepped forward…and the Crystal vanished.

"I have been charged by my master to guard this gem…and unless you defeat me…I'll not allow you to have it!"

Aura nodded resolutely. "Very well…if that's what must be done…"

Alkaid drew her blades. "Then let's fight!"

(Play Kingdom Hearts II Complete: Rage Awakened)

The girl burst into flame. The fire spread throughout the field, changing it to a ruined blazing town. Buildings were on fire, cars were overturned and burning…fiery ash was raining down from the sky.

The girl flipped back, sending small spheres of flame at the three. The attack surprised them, forcing them to leap out of the way. Kira vanished in a wall of flame, and appeared behind Alkaid. The fox-girl swung her right leg for a kick to the side of the short haired girl's head, but Alkaid ducked just in time, and retaliated with a left swing of her twin blades, which was evaded by a back flip from the other girl.

Zefie rushed in, a sphere of…well…something, in her hand. She tossed it at Kira, who tried to evade, but was suddenly knocked away when the sphere expanded in an instant. She flipped in the air and landed on her feet, glaring.

"So…you can use those as well I see…"

Zefie blinked in confusion. "Someone else can do that?"

"I'll enjoy gutting you for stealing one of the master's techniques thief!"

Zefie paled as Kira flickered in front of her, a ring of flame around her right fist, which she slammed into Zefie's face, sending the girl flying, and burning her.

Aura rushed in with a flying kick, which was caught by the Kitsune. Kira spun a bit and launched Aura away, immediately letting loose a round of fireballs after the girl, all which had homed in and engulfed her.

Alkaid quickly cast a group healing spell on her allies, which restored their strength a bit. Kira noticed this action and quickly twirled both her arms, gathering a large amount of fire in both hands. She thrust her arms forward and spiraling torrents of flame launched at Alkaid. Aura quickly appeared in front of it, creating a barrier that blocked it…if just barely.

Zefie charged at Kira, wrists sparking with energy. From her palms shot two long energy blades. She swung down with the left one, causing the orange-haired girl to stop her attack and dodge. Zefie pursued her opponent, swinging her blades around expertly. However the Kitsune evaded every strike, some narrowly, but still, she didn't get touched. But then Zefie made one double overhead swing…only to have it crash on a barrier.

"What?"

Kira smirked at the blonde. "Foolish child…do you think I am without my own defenses?"

The girl burst into flame and begun spinning like a top. A whirlwind of flame spiraled around from where she stood, catching Zefie in it and dealing immense damage to the blonde. Eventually the dome created by the kitsune's spinning pulsed, which sent the blonde girl rocketing backward. Alkaid took advantage of the maneuver's recovery time and leapt in for an attack, only to be repelled by a small explosion in front of her.

The three girls were on their knees, panting.

"She's…too strong."

"Her control over fire is amazing…"

"We can't give up…I need to know…what is going on…with Zero…"

Alkaid shakily stood. Her body glowed a faint red. In the back of Kira's mind, the Crystal of Courage flashed. _What?_

Alkaid dashed forward, flanked by Zefie and Aura. Zefie launched another one of her expanding spheres, only this one was easily evaded. But Aura followed up and appeared where Kira moved to, and struck out at the girl. Her attacks were parried, or blocked by the girl, and she was eventually knocked away. Alkaid leapt and swung, but missed, only to have Kira turn her head, and her eyes flash, and suddenly Alkaid was engulfed in flame.

Zefie had leapt back and raised her left arm. Around her wrist formed a small swirling mass of black and white mist. From the center of the mist launched jagged lances of energy that pierced the Kitsune girl. Within moments the lances faded, but the brief moment of damage was enough for the other two to capitalize on.

Aura swung her arm to the side, forming a crackling sphere of energy. The sphere turned into a blue lance, which she launched. The firing of the lance seemed to be a trigger, as hundreds of smaller lances of light shot from beside her, all slamming into the orange haired girl. The familiar purple and blue rings of light surrounded the girl.

"Wh-what is this? My body…it won't move!"

Alkaid took over.

**Rengeki!**

**"Whirlwind!"**

The girl shot forward like a bullet and struck. The repeated strikes impacted Kira, and the final blast knocked her away. The girl slammed into the ground.

"Did…we do it?"

"I think we got her!"

Slowly the girl rose.

"Not bad…I didn't think I'd be forced to use this…"

"You're not dead yet?!"

"Of course not…you think master Xenmaru…our lord…would only give us these forms? No…we all have two…this…our base form…which is usually more than enough to handle any opponent…and a second…"

The area began to rumble…and vanish. It was replaced by…

"Avatar Space!"

"It's been a long time since I've had to use this form…Master Xenmaru…I will protect you…with my life…"

Unknown to everyone else…a seal on the girl's back activated. Black marks and symbols streaked around the girl's body. All sorts of symbols appeared on her. She began to glow a blood red. She dropped on all fours, as her three tails spread themselves. The red light covered her entire body.

(Play Okami: Demon Lord Nine tails' Extermination)

The light grew until it was nearly the size of a building. It solidified into blood red fur. Nine bushy tails swayed behind the giant creature. The giant nine-tailed fox roared at the three girls, the sheer power behind it causing the entire area to rumble.

"Damn…that thing's huge!"

"And we don't have an avatar to match its size…"

"Then we'll just have to take it down the old fashioned way!"

**"Confident aren't we? Very well. I shall make your deaths quick!"**

The Demon Lord stretched out her tails. At the tip of each one, a powerful flame appeared. She flicked her tails at the group, and the flames shot at the girls. Aura put up another barrier while Zefie and Alkaid attempted to leap out of the way. However Kira was expecting that. She dashed forward, charging right after her first attack.

A wall of flame surrounded her as she raced towards Aura. The silver haired girl opened her eyes, and saw a giant blazing comet heading for her. She couldn't react in time, and was slammed into by Kira. Aura went flying. Zefie ran at the Demon Lord and fired multiple blasts of energy in the shape of small orange lasers. Kira turned her head and glared at the girl, her red eyes flashing.

Suddenly Zefie froze. A black mark appeared on her chest. The mark was in the shape of the infinity symbol. Suddenly it flashed red, and a gigantic sphere of flame appeared, and slammed into Zefie. The fire burned for a few moments, and then vanished, like nothing happened. But the damage was done. Zefie was on the ground groaning in pain.

Alkaid rushed the Kitsune while it was distracted with dealing with Aura and Zefie. She was as quiet as she could be…until the very last moment. She let out a battle cry as she leapt into the air, and brought her blades down, slicing into Kira's side. The Demon Lord roared in pain, and then spun, smashing her tails into Alkaid, knocking her away.

A sphere of energy exploded in her face. She pawed her eyes in reflex, only to find herself being slammed in the side, knocking her over. She opened her eyes and glared at the attacker, summoning another ball of fire. Aura barely flew away in time.

Zefie got up slowly.

**"Annoying pests…I'll end this foolish game NOW!"**

The area began to shake as the Kitsune rose. She spread her paws and lowered her body, as if she were going to pounce. Her tails stopped moving, a glowing red light appearing on the tips of each. The light turned into small spheres that shot out beams of light towards Kira's neck. The Demon Lord opened her maw and a huge shimmering light appeared at the back of her throat.

A ring of red energy appeared around her snout. She pulled her head back, temporarily closing her mouth. A slightly transparent image of her human form, eyes closed, hands on her chest appeared for a moment.

**Crimson Carnage**

She snapped her head back to its original position and quickly opened her jaw. From within fired a gigantic beam of blood red energy that tore ass towards Aura. The silver haired girl gasped and put up a barrier at the last second. The powerful beam slammed into it. Aura's body shuddered as she fought to hold the barrier up.

"I…don't know…how long…I can do this!"

The tips of Kira's tails all pointed at Aura. Another set of glowing red spheres appeared on them. Small glyphs appeared in front of the orbs. The glyphs shined, and fired their own sets of energy beams, only these were like bullets. They repeatedly fired small blasts of flaming energy into the main beam.

Zefie slipped in behind Aura and reinforced the barrier with one of her own. For a moment they breathed a sigh of relief, until the second phase of the attack started. The final attack ended, the girls barely holding on. Kira panted heavily.

Suddenly the area began to flicker. On Alkaid's, and the screen that the others were watching the words **Divine Awakening **appeared.

Kira looked up, confused.

The girls stood side by side, Alkaid glowing red, Zefie glowing black, and Aura glowing white. In front of the girls, four blades appeared. Two for Alkaid, and one for Zefie and Aura respectively.

The three girls leapt away from each other, and raced to the Kitsune from the sides and front.

"It's all or nothing here!"

"With this attack…we will win!"

"We can't lose…we can't!"

**_"OUGI!"_**

Aura charged from the left, blade shining fiercely. She drew her blade in her right hand, from her left, and slashed diagonally up, from left to right.

**_"Aku!"_**

Zefie flew in from the right, blade in her left, and slashed diagonally up from right to left.

**_"Retsu!"_**

Alkaid rushed in front of the creature, recognition in its eyes. She leapt and crossed her blades in front of her. She slashed both blades in an X shape and a wave of energy raced from them and slammed into Kira.

**_"ZAN!"_**

The Demon Lord roared, and pillars of light shot from her body. The light flared, blinding all.

When it cleared, they were back in Coite-Bodher. Kira was on the ground, back in her original form.

"Damn…first to fall…that…totally bites."

"We did it?"

"Yeah…you've proven your strength…"

"YES!" Aura exclaimed and did a little dance, pulling a flustered Alkaid and a laughing though embarrassed Zefie with her.

Kira smiled at them and cleared her throat. Aura blushed heavily and lowered her head.

"The crystal is now yours…Alkaid."

That surprised everyone.

"M-me? Why me?"

"Because you shine with the light of Courage. You wouldn't give up, though the odds were greatly stacked against you. You deserve it."

"I…thank you."

"No need for thanks…you earned this yourself."

The girl began to glow, and slowly fade.

"You'll find…when you get the crystal…an item stating that it's one half of two powerful objects. When your group defeats the other bearing that other piece…well…you'll like what you get."

She vanished and in her place was the glimmering Ideya crystal of Courage.

It swirled around Alkaid for a moment and then slammed into her. Her body glowed and the words Level Up appeared three times on her screen.

"I…gained three levels from that?"

"Awesome!"

"Our first one! We did it!"

The girls celebrated.

Only five left…

**

* * *

**

**Delta: Hidden Forbidden Holy Ground**

A blue haired girl in a white dress warped into the area. "Mou…where IS everybody?"

She walked to the Cathedral hoping to find those she was looking for.

(Play Wild Arms 3: Omen)

A pink haired girl wearing an entirely black schoolgirl uniform, and clutching a stuffed dragon turned. Aina blinked.

"Oh…I didn't expect anyone to be here. This place is deserted most of the time."

The other girl nodded. "That's why I chose to come here…"

Aina slowly approached. "Um…I could leave…if you want."

The other girl shook her head. "Iie…I could…use the company."

"You look…sad."

"I'm searching…for my brother. I thought he would be here…but I can't find him…"

The blue haired girl knew how the other one felt.

"Alright then, I'll help you!"

"You…will? But…you don't-

"It doesn't matter. I know how you feel…I was looking for my own brother for a while too. But if I could find him, and be reunited, then I can sure as heck help you!"

The pale little girl smiled, her crimson eyes shimmering happily.

"Thank you…"

"No problem. I'm Aina." The girl in white stuck out her hand.

"…Arietta." The girl in black took one hand from around the dragon and shook it.

Unknown to either of them…their meeting would be the beginning of an end…

* * *

Sorry for the long wait. I had to figure how I was going to do this…not to mention get together the battle themes for the Guardians. Oh yeah…about the other half of the object…green or blue? I can fit either one in to make what I have planned work…but I want your input.

Arcon1: Thanks.

Rainfire: Interesting…well, in the next chapter, or the one after that, you'll have your answer if the Chaos you're thinking of is the one I'm thinking of. I'm glad you're hooked, just makes it easier to write knowing people like this!

Yamimaru: I am and damn proud of it too! NiGHTS was the shit man! Plus, the idea of crystallized dream energy being the key to entering another world…fucking awesome!

Remember, green or blue! First one to hit two votes wins, and I'll be able to start the next chapter!


	4. Awakening of Water

**Lost Ground: Dead World of Indieglut Lugh**

A group of people stood at the edge of the lake. These were normal players, not involved with anything beyond their own free time. They frequently came to this area to relax, watching the beautiful glowing white tree.

"I gotta get some homework done…so let's head back."

"Alright boss."

The third just nodded silently.

The three of them got up to leave, when a fierce blue light shone behind them. They turned around and stared at air above the lake, where a glowing blue orb slowly descended.

(Play Sonic Adventure: Event- Strain)

The water beneath the lake churned and bubbled.

"Uhh…Boss?"

"Grein…this isn't normal is it?"

The large man just shook his head.

"B-Bordeaux! What's going on?!"

"Shut it Negimaru!"

A pillar of water shot into the air, engulfing the orb. The water twisted and swirled like a tornado.

"Holy shit…"

A pair of glowing green lights appeared inside the twister.

"Hey…are those…eyes?"

The green eye like lights seemed to narrow as the area rumbled.

"What the hell is going on here?!"

Suddenly, two glowing blue claws shot from the watery twister. The left one slammed into Grein.

"Grein!"

The big man gurgled as he was disintegrated.

The right one shot for Bordeaux.

"Look out!"

She was shoved aside by Negimaru…who couldn't get himself out of the way fast enough. The claw shot straight through him. He started disintegrating as well.

"Bordeaux…"

"Negimaru! You idiot! Why the Hell did you do that?!"

"You're…my friend. I couldn't…stand losing you a second time."

"Friend? You IDIOT! I'm not your-

"You are…to me…go…get out of here…before…before it's too late."

"Dammit…you bastard…fucking dying on me…" She stood up angrily, glaring at the twister. "I'll get you back for this you son of a bitch! Nobody PKs my followers but ME! You hear me asshole?! NOBODY!"

The twister glowed blue again and shot out the claws. She dodged out of the way and ran to the platform. She warped out just as one of the claws slammed into it. After she had been fully transported away, the eyes closed, and the twister faded back into the water.

The second gem had appeared.

**Trials of a Goddess**

**Chapter III: Awakening of Water**

It had been three days since the encounter and ensuing battle with Kira. Zefie, Alkaid and Aura were recovering steadily. When Alkaid logged out from The World that day, she found her real self wearing horribly burnt clothing. Of course, that caused her to have a momentary breakdown, but she recovered from it, and trashed the clothes. A couple days later her parents confronted her about it, having seen the wrecked outfit in the trash.

(Play Final Fantasy VIII: SeeD)

She explained to them that once again, she was involved with a massive event within The World. They argued that for her safety they would prevent her from playing, but she fought back, stating that the stability of The World, and possibly the entire Net itself was at risk.

"_Do you remember Shinzaki Zero?"_

"_Yes, he was that boy you were friends with years ago, wasn't he?"_

"_He died recently."_

"_Oh my!"_

"_But that's not all; he died while playing The World."_

"_All the more reason to-_

"_No! You don't understand, his mind…his mind is IN The World! His body here is dead, but the same thing that knocked ME into a coma happened to him, only he was alone at the time, and his body stopped working. His mind is in The World, and it's been trapped inside a giant stone. I have to help get him back, no matter what!"_

"_But Chika, we can't just-_

That was when the unexpected happened. A brilliant red light erupted from Chika's chest, surprising all three of them.

"_Wh-what is…?"_

"_The light of Courage…"_

The two women turned to the lone male.

"_Well I'll be damned…my daughter holds the Light of Courage…"_

"_Father…you know what this is?"_

"_An old legend I read as a child. Humans were created with six brilliant energies. Courage, Hope, Wisdom, Intelligence, Purity and Desire."_

"_Desire? I thought the last one was Honor."_

"_You know of the legend?"_

"_Well…Zero…"_

"_Ahh, I see. Yes, I understand why he'd be confused. True Honor IS rare these days…but no, the last energy was that of Desire. Legend states that whosoever controls all six of these energies, is granted power rivaling that of a God. For centuries, when the legend was created, humans warred over the power, each one attempting to claim it as their own…however, they learned that it wasn't material, it came from within. Thus they gave up their efforts, and shunned such things, considering it weak and useless."_

"_Dear, how did our Daughter come to hold this power then?"_

"_Zero…"_

Both looked at her.

"_He…he had this power…all along."_

"_What do you mean?"_

"_When I met him…well, not WHEN I met him, more like, a year after we became friends…he told me of his…condition. His mind was fragmented…split into seven pieces."_

Her parents looked confused.

"_He wouldn't go into detail…just that something happened to him not long before that that caused him to split his thoughts seven ways. Well, each one embodied a different aspect…each one being the same as the legend Father speaks of…"_

"_You said his mind…was trapped in the game? The same way you were trapped in a coma?"_

"_Yes…only his wasn't as a result as a malicious attack…it was an accident made by one of the original AI of the game, Morgana. She wrote a program that would use the first person to find her's character data as a stepping stone to be reborn…but Zero…he lived alone…and for weeks he was left unconscious without food or water…and his body died…while his mind was trapped."_

"_That game…"_

"_I know it's dangerous…but for some reason his mind fragmented again…or at least…something happened…maybe he's recovering and they've returned to protect him…"_

"_Who?"_

"_His Guardians…this light…this energy…belongs to Alkaid…my character in The World. We fought the Guardian of Flame, Kira, a female Kitsune placed in charge of protecting the Ideya of Courage."_

"_We?"_

"_Alkaid, the AI 'Goddess' Aura…and her Daughter Zefie."_

"_And that is why…"_

"_Why my clothes were burnt? I guess so…Alkaid WAS hit with a good few attacks…but…I don't think anyone knew…that it would transfer over to the physical world…"_

"_I see…it would seem we have no choice in the matter."_

"_Father?"_

"_You are determined to bring him back? At any cost?"_

"_Yes…"_

"_Then you must do so. You hold the Light of Courage…it shall protect you."_

"_But- what if-_

"_She will be fine. Notice that the only things that were burnt at all were her clothes."_

"_Yes…His Guardians can't Data Drain…or anything similar…so my mind and body will be safe."_

"_Though I will request that you keep us updated on your progress…"_

"_Why, you thinking of playing too?"_

"_This online game…The World…it sounds…interesting…to say the least. I'm not as young as I once was…as much as my mind may wish it was…so perhaps…in time…you…and your friend Zero…can assist two old timers in joining you in your efforts."_

"_Eh, why not? With them combined Zero and Aura should be able to stave off anything that threatens The World…we just have to get him back first…"_

"_What is your next goal?"_

"_I don't know…The others told me that the Crystals appear when they want to. So we're waiting for the next one…it's funny…I was the first one to find the Ideya of Courage…it appeared right where I was sitting…thankfully I knew Zero…or Kira probably would have roasted me right off…gave me a weird gem too…"_

"_A gem?"_

"_Yeah…a small orb, much smaller than the Ideya…she said it was part of two…"_

"_Agni and Rudra…"_

"_What?"_

This time Chika and her father turned to her mother.

"_The Legendary twin blades…one of flame and one of…something. Nobody was certain what the second blade was made from. It varied between Ice and Wind."_

"_Sweet…Alkaid's a Twin Blade…that weapon would be PERFECT for her…"_

"_It would seem that way."_

"_Wicked…alright Xenmaru…Alkaid's coming to help!"_

"_Xenmaru?"_

"_Ahh…Xenmaru is Zero-kun's character name…"_

"_Interesting…"_

"_What is?"_

"_Don't you see? His name means 'Circle of Zen.' And if you were to place two circles right next to each other…"_

"_You'd get a crude Infinity symbol…"_

"_Wow…Zero-san must have put a lot of thought into his name."_

"_It looks like he did…now I'm even MORE interested in getting him back!"_

"_Then go, and be safe my daughter."_

"_I will…thank you mother, father…for supporting me."_

"_The Light of Courage will protect you."_

"_Yes…it will."_

**The World…**

"Dammit where is he?!"

Bordeaux had been spending the last hour looking for Haseo. She checked his Guild Shop, and all of the Root Towns, even the Arena, but no luck.

That's when she saw them.

"Alright Kuhn…we've got to report back."

"HEY!"

Atoli and Kuhn turned.

"You two! You're Haseo's friends right?!"

"Bordeaux…what do you want now?!"

"Take me to Haseo!"

"What? Why do you-

"Dammit woman, don't talk, do it! I need to see Haseo!"

"Look, we don't have time to deal with you, we're busy!"

"It's fucking important dammit!"

"Kuhn, let's bring her with us."

"What?!"

"What?!"

"She sounds like she's telling the truth…"

"How do you-Oh…right…you can hear it can't you?"

"Yes…"

"Alright…but try anything funny…and you'll be dealing with something that makes AIDA look like child's play."

Bordeaux gave a small shiver at that thought, but composed herself and joined the party with them.

"I hope you know what you're doing Atoli."

"Trust me."

**

* * *

**

**Theta: Restoring Lover's Dream**

"So…did anyone find anything?"

"Not a thing…"

"Nope."

"Sorry Aura."

"Damn…"

"Well, Kuhn and Atoli are still out there."

"Yeah, maybe they-

The two warped in.

"Hey you're back! Did you-

A third orb appeared.

"B-Bordeaux?!"

"Fucking finally! Do you know how long I've been looking for your sorry ass Haseo?! You're never around when you're wanted dammit!"

"I-you-what?!"

"Look…I hate to ask…but I need your help with something."

"I'm not letting you PK me-

"THAT'S NOT IT YOU IDIOT!"

He fell back in surprise.

"Grein…and Negimaru…we were attacked by this…tsunami."

"A what?"

"Some fucking big blue ball just showed up and made something attack us!"

"A…big blue ball?"

"Another Crystal!"

"Where did this happen?!"

"The Dead World of Indieglut Lugh."

"It must be Chaos…the Guardian of Intelligence."

"Who the what?"

"Long story, not much time."

"Alright we've got our next target. Morgana, set the view screens-

"WAIT A FUCKING MINUTE!"

Everyone stopped and turned to Bordeaux.

"What the FUCK is going on here?! What the hell was it that attacked us?!"

"We've GOT to stop doing stuff like this…"

They explained what was going on.

"Son of a bitch…"

"My thoughts exactly."

"Alkaid!"

"Sorry I'm late…had to do something really quick."

"Right…so who's going?"

"Well I will…"

"Alright so Aura..."

"I would like to try my hand at this."

"Ovan…"

"I'll-

"I'm going too."

"What?"

"That fucker did something to Negimaru and Grein! I don't know if they're fucked up or not in the real world, but either way it killed my fucking partners, I'm going."

"You can't-

"Fine."

"Aura?"

"She has a perfectly fine reason for going. Ovan has his Avatar, and I'm…well…Me, so she'll be fine."

"Damn right I will."

"Alright, time to head to the Lost Ground!"

* * *

Before you summon a lynch mob (which would only be mowed down by my army of ADR's…and if you understood what those are, you fucking kick ass.) I'm gonna tell you this chapter was NOT what it was originally. I had planned for an interlude like chapter where Aina showed back up, Alkaid's and Aina's Ideya reacted and showed the group how Xenmaru earned the Ideya of Courage…but that wasn't working too well, so this ended up writing itself.

I hope I portrayed Bordeaux's personality right…she strikes me as a rather vulgar person…much like Tayuya in Naruto…

Wolfy: School? Blegh, school sucks. Useful for a while, but then it just craps out on you…like an early 360. Can't sleep? Blind yourself with flashing lights and colors at night. DDR helps with that. Or read. A lot. Tax your brain enough and you'll conk right out. And yeah, now that you mention it, Alkaid DOES have a fox tail belt…

TheAzureDolphin: Well, I hope this clears up which Chaos you meant…and if you still don't get it…there's always next chapter. Best bait? My brain isn't working that well right now, mind explaining?

PirateCaptainBo: Don't feel stupid, I never come out and say that "this music fits here." I just command you to play it. End of what indeed…

Yamimaru: Green is indeed wind.

So that's one for Blue and one for Green…same question, green or blue. Yamimaru and AzureDolphin have selected theirs…everyone else…PICK GODDAMMIT!


	5. Chaos

**Trials of a Goddess**

**Chapter IV: Guardian of Water, Chaos**

(Play .hack GU: Underworld Eldy Rue)

The three fighters warped into the area. Aura floated forward, a look of awe on her face.

"It's so beautiful…"

"You've not been here Aura?"

"No…I didn't have the chance to visit all the Lost Ground…I've mostly been at my Cathedral…"

"Tch, some Ultimate AI you are…don't even know your own world."

Ovan blinked. Aura just frowned slightly.

"True…I can't be as efficient as I wish to be if I don't know my own domain…thank you for pointing that out…after this is all over…I'll have Xenmaru-sama show me around."

Bordeaux stared at the AI in shock. "Xenmaru? _Shinigami _Xenmaru?!"

"Yes, you know of him as well?"

"Know of him? The bastard took me out no less than ten times! I mean sure it worked in my favor, to be targeted by the _Shinigami _himself brings a crapload of fame, considering he doesn't PK that often. I wouldn't be surprised if…if he'd come after me when I was…infected."

Uncharacteristically, Bordeaux showed some remorse for her actions during the time she was infected with AIDA.

"I'm surprised you feel sorry about that."

"Tch, so am I. I guess…because I did a lot worse things…than I normally do…y'know? I'm a die hard PKer…but…when Haseo knocked me into that coma…freaked me out a bit…now that I look back on it…I did the same thing…and though it was really fucking awesome having all that power…hell I nearly could have died from it myself…"

"One often experiences vast personality shifts from excessive trauma."

"Indeed. However…though your reasons are selfish, you are aiding in the recovery of a friend of ours…one that besides the occasional chance confrontation, you have no connection do. Though that does not absolve all of your sins…assuming that's not even your goal…it does show that you are indeed willing to help others…for a price of course, meaning you DO have a conscience."

"Never said I didn't. I just don't listen to it very often."

"As interesting and enlightening as this conversation is, we should probably return to the task at hand…"

"Yes, you're correct Ovan."

The three of them walked to the lake's edge. Glowing in front of them was the orb.

"There it is…"

The Ideya…seemingly sensing their presence, began to glow mysteriously. Almost immediately after it started shining a twister of water shot into the air, engulfing it. A pair of glowing green insectoid eyes snapped open within the twister.

(Play Sonic Adventure 1: Chaos Ver. 6)

"Shit that's exactly what happened before!"

The eyes narrowed and two blue glowing points appeared on the twister. Instantly, the points fired a pair of deep blue claws at the three of them. Ovan and Bordeaux dodged out of the way of one, while the other slammed into Aura's barrier. However the next event surprised everyone, both present and watching.

The tendrils of water wrapped themselves around the barrier, reforming the claw. The claw swung around wildly, and then released her, tossing her into the cave wall. She slammed into the wall, letting out a gasp of pain.

"Holy shit…"

The twister then fired a group of needle like water blasts at the two remaining fighters. Ovan and Bordeaux barely leapt out of the way in time. Ovan whirled around and leveled his Lost Weapon.

"Plectra Bullets!"

A wave of energy erupted from the weapon and tore through the twister…but did nothing.

"What?"

"Dammit! Don't tell me that thing's invincible!"

Suddenly a blast of energy erupted from the distance ripping through the twister. Again it did nothing. However the eyes vanished for a moment, and then re-opened. The twister started glowing blue, and then the blue aura seemed to shatter. The particles formed into large spears of water, which suddenly became encased in ice. The spears shot forward at blinding speeds, heading right for Bordeaux.

Mere seconds before impact, Aura faded into view, and slammed her barrier into place. The missiles of ice exploded on contact with the wall of energy, pushing Aura back, into Bordeaux.

Ovan's eyes narrowed from behind his glasses.

_So that's it…_

He sent a private message to Aura and Bordeaux. _**I know how to defeat it. We have to attack the moment it does.**_

_**What? What do you mean?**_

_**Just watch.**_

And watch they did. For in the next moment, the twister attacked. This time it fired numerous spheres of water at the three. Again they all moved out of the way. Only this time, they saw it.

_**That glow…**_

A purple glow would appear above the twister's eyes, just before it attacked. It only lasted a few moments, but it was there.

Bordeaux took charge. "Hey! Asshole! Come and get me!"

The eyes narrowed, and the claws shot out again…but as they did…

"Plectra Bullets!"

"Lei Zas!"

Two waves of energy slammed into the exact spot the purple glow appeared, causing the arms to freeze in place, and then the whole twister to disperse.

"Did we do it?"

"Hell yeah! That bastard's dead now!"

"No…that was far too easy…it can't be over yet."

"Wait a moment…where is the Ideya?"

The crystal re-appeared above the tree. It glowed again giving off that conspicuous sound.

**DING**

"That's the-

Another twister of water appeared. Only this time it was a light blue…the twister exploded revealing a strange creature. Its head was pointed, with two almost hair like extensions growing from the back. Its body was small and very thin. Its arms led to three "fingered" claws, which were the largest parts of its body, other than its head. A short tail thrashed around, and bright green insectoid eyes glared at the group as a small purple brain pulsed inside its head.

However the strangest bit about it…was that it was made entirely of water.

"This…is Chaos?"

It floated down to the surface of the lake. As it did so the area flashed with white, and changed. When the light cleared they were standing in front of what looked like a stone altar. On the altar was a gigantic green emerald. On large pillars of stone surrounding the outside of the altar hovered seven glowing diamond shaped crystals. One of Dark Blue, Green, Red, Grey, Purple, Yellow, and Sky Blue.

"That's it? That's the Guardian of Water?"

"Indeed…it is surprising, it doesn't look like much."

"No…this creature has immense power…"

The two looked at Aura, who was visibly shaking.

"It is weakened due to its early arrival…but…this creature…is potentially one of the strongest Guardians…"

"You can feel its power?"

"Pfft, look how small it is! It probably can't do jack shit!"

As if taking offense to the statement, the brain pulsed and its eyes flared.

(Play Sonic Adventure 1: Chaos Ver. 0, 2, 4)

It shot forward at a near untraceable speed. Time seemed to slow as it brought its claw for Bordeaux's head. She barely ducked in time. It followed up with another claw swipe at her torso, which she barely dodged. She lashed out with her blade, only to have it pass straight through. The attack made Chaos pause for a moment however, which bought her time to get away.

"Holy fucking shit! That thing is fast as hell!"

Chaos leapt after her again, only to be smashed to the side from a blast sent by Ovan. It did no damage, but caused the creature to be slightly disoriented. It shook the dizziness away, and then attacked again immediately. It fired its left claw at Ovan, who dodged, only to have Chaos twist itself while firing its right claw, delivering a solid backhand into Ovan's side, smashing him into one of the cave walls.

Aura dashed in and swiped her arm to the side, summoning a group of small pellets of energy that slammed into the creature…only to pass right through. She seemed to annoy it however as its eyes flared with green light, and it began to spin like a top.

A twister of water erupted from where Chaos was spinning, reaching into the sky. The twister seemed to fold backward into a loop…and then it rocketed towards Aura. She placed a barrier…but the attack cut straight through it and slammed into her torso, shredding the outside of her clothes before it exploded out behind her. Chaos stopped spinning and landed behind Aura who fell to her hands and knees in pain.

Back at the field, the group gasped in horror when Aura was brutally attacked.

"God DAMN!"

"Oh my…"

"Damn…He wasn't kidding when he said Chaos was ruthless…"

Chaos prepared to finish Aura off.

_D-dammit…is this…the end? Am I really going to die here? How could I have been so horribly damaged? Are Xenmaru's guardians truly THAT powerful?_

It raised a claw, which suddenly sharpened. The claw rocketed towards Aura, who's eyes widened in fear. The claw suddenly stopped…

"Wh-what?"

Bordeaux was standing behind Chaos…her sword lodged in its head. The creature collapsed into a puddle of water.

"Bastard…"

Ovan rushed over and assisted Aura in rising, taking great caution to look everywhere but her bare torso.

"Are you alright Aura?"

"Y-yes…I'll be fine…"

"Oi, Girl! You gonna do something or were you planning on stripping the rest of that off and give us a show?"

Aura blinked and looked down, then blushed fiercely. She covered her chest with her arms and closed her eyes. Her outfit repaired itself, and she healed.

"Nice trick."

Aura did nothing but blush harder, something that made Bordeaux laugh.

Suddenly the area began to rumble.

**DING**

"Again?!"

(Play Okami Yamato-no-Orochi's Extermination II)

The puddle rose, and turned back into Chaos. However its eyes were glazed and its body arced. It began floating in the air. A green glow emanated from behind them.

The three turned to see the giant emerald floating, rotating slowly. The other crystals began to glow as well, and then floated over to Chaos, spinning around it.

The gems flared with light as they all slammed into Chaos. There was a blinding flash.

When the light cleared, floating in front of them, coiled like a snake…was a huge dragon made of water.

"Holy…"

Floating around the dragon were seven glowing orbs, the same colors as the crystals. Wisps of water flowed off of the beast.

"The Azure Dragon…"

"A WHAT?!"

"An Eastern style dragon…"

"It looks like the Guardian of the Eastern Gate of Kyoto…"

The dragon roared in fury.

"Wait a minute…this shouldn't be happening yet!"

"What do you mean Aura?"

"Alicia's memories state that Chaos has Six forms…the first one we fought…and then one that makes it look like a cross between a hammer-head shark and a crab, one that looks like a shark with arms, and one that looks like a spider…which Xenmaru bound due to his fear of spiders, and replaced with this form…"

"You're right…that is unusual…"

"Bordeaux…you customized that sword didn't you?"

"Yeah I did. With an…item…that gives extra damage…against water type enemies…"

"I see…when Bordeaux ran her blade through Chaos' brain…it did enough damage to consider us enough of a threat to go to its ultimate form…"

The dragon darted at the group. Ovan leveled his gun and fired a few shots. Chaos evaded them by swirling itself in a spiral. It roared and then slammed into the ground where the group stood. They barely got out of the way. Its body crashed into the ground, turning into a puddle.

"What the hell was the point of that?"

Moments after the question was asked, pillars of water erupted from the ground beneath them. The action was too fast for them to evade, thus they all were sent flying. One more pillar shot into the air, only to open to reveal Chaos.

Bordeaux flipped to her feet. The others rose as well. She ran at Ovan.

"Hey Four-eyes! Give me a boost!"

Ovan caught on to her plan and nodded. Aura raised her arm and launched a few pellets of energy. The dragon twisted to the side. Ovan tossed the brunette into the air. She raised her blade and was about to strike Chaos' forehead, where its brain pulsed…when it twisted and smacked her away, and into the ground with its tail.

"Shiiiii-OW!"

Ovan leveled a glare at the beast.

"I hoped I wouldn't have to do this…"

**DING**

"Come, the Rebirth!"

The sky blue pattern appeared on his body. Seconds before he could call out his avatar's name, the giant green gem flared with light and sent out a wave of energy. Instantly, the patterns on his body flickered, then shattered. Chaos roared in triumph.

"Wh-what?"

"They can DO that?!"

As Ovan was attempting to understand the events that just took place, Chaos began coiling itself up, looking like a snake. Six of the seven glowing orbs arranged themselves around its body. Energy ran between them, creating a circle with a six pointed star in the center. The seventh flew to Chaos' mouth. The star began to rotate as small beams of energy ran into the orb in front of Chaos' mouth. Within moments, what looked like a steady stream of energy was flowing to the seventh orb from each of the six rotating points.

Chaos reared its head back, and then launched it forward, firing a massive beam of power right at Ovan. The speed and ferocity of the attack took him by surprise, and he was engulfed in its wrath. After roughly half a minute of continuous fire, the beam faded, and the orbs returned to their original places around Chaos. Ovan was on the ground, HP at 1, barely conscious.

Aura looked in horror at the prone bodies of both Ovan and Bordeaux. She turned fearful eyes to the mighty beast before her, who fixed her a cold stare. It roared, and launched itself at her.

(abruptly end song)

_They were…so easily defeated…_

It got closer.

_I can't believe I failed…_

Closer.

_This is it…this is…as far as I could go…_

The others, both present and watching screamed at her to get out of the way, to move, to do _something._

_Zero-sama…your mind…is even greater than anything we could have imagined…_

Chaos' mouth opened, as if it were preparing to swallow her whole.

_I…I'm sorry…_

(Play Yu-Gi-Oh: Opening 6 – Overlap)

**Twinkle…**

**rrrrrrooooOOOOOAAAAAARRRR**

_What?_

**Flash-BOOOM!**

With a searing flash, a haunting roar, and a mighty explosion, a HUGE ball of condensed energy slammed into Chaos' open maw, ripping its form apart in a single blow, and sending Aura flying backwards.

"M-Mother?!"

Standing behind where Aura lay, was Morgana, right hand outstretched and crackling with residual energy.

"I couldn't…I couldn't just sit back and watch anymore. Not only are you the source of the stability of this world…but you're also my daughter. You once helped me…and now…it's my turn…to help you!"

The water beast re-emerged in a whirlwind of energy, roaring angrily at the woman. She raised her hands again.

"Orb of Revenge!"

Another ball of compressed energy rocketed towards Chaos, who's eyes flashed as a literal wall of water blocked the attack.

"It can make barriers as well?!"

"Aura go! Heal your friends, we have to fight this thing together!"

The white haired girl nodded, and rushed off to restore her allies. Chaos wasn't about to sit back and just let that happen though. The orbs along its body began to shine. It roared and swung its tail like an arm, and hundreds of pellets of energy erupted out and all targeted Aura.

Morgana raced in front of her daughter and swung her right arm to the side. A wall of green energy that looked like it was created from a group of leaves appeared and absorbed the attack. She then leapt into the air, hurling multiple lances of pink energy at the monster.

Aura quickly healed both Ovan and Bordeaux while Morgana distracted Chaos.

"We have to beat that thing…"

"How? The fucking prick can pull up a wall like Aura!"

"Nina…listen to me."

Bordeaux froze.

"_**How do you-**_

"Please. You're the only one with a weapon truly capable of _killing _this beast. Mother can shatter its form, we can possibly even tire it, but we cannot defeat it without the weapon you have. I wish to try something…but…it might…"

"It might hurt me in the real world."

"Yes…I've never done this before…and honestly I don't even know if it will work…"

"Well what the hell is it?"

"I want to change your character data a bit…I want to make it be recognized a bit more like a program…rather than a PC…if I can do that…you might be able to beat it."

"How?!"

"I think…if the three of us, Mother, Ovan, and Myself, can disable at least four of those gems surrounding it…it will weaken enough for you to be able to take it out."

"And altering my character will do what?"

"It will allow you to alter your speed, your strength…anything…for a short amount of time at least. The human brain…as it is now…for the most part, is unable to handle such information…it can't process it properly…"

"It's worth a fucking shot."

"Nina, the risks-

"I'm better off not knowing dammit. Don't try to change my mind, you just might fucking succeed."

"Right…"

"Just do what you need to do…"

"This…might hurt a bit."

"Whatever, I'm a big girl, I can take it."

Aura smiled slightly, and then focused her data. She invoked her inner power of Data Drain to alter Bordeaux's character. The pain was visible on the young woman's face, both inside, and out, of the game. After a few seconds it was done.

"Are you alright?"

"As much as can be expected."

"The moment you activate the upgrade, it will begin to deteriorate. It's a failsafe I placed to reduce any form of damage to your mind. You've got a window of two minutes…"

"Right then…"

Morgana slammed into the ground near them at that moment.

"Ugh…damn that thing hits hard."

"Mother, we have a plan!"

She quickly filled Morgana in.

"That's a big risk…but fine…lets do it."

They all got ready. Chaos roared at them.

"Lets go!"

Ovan focused his thoughts on Corbenik. Even though he couldn't unleash his avatar…he was able to grasp the connection enough to obtain a few of its powers. He summoned a ball of dark energy, and then punched it, causing a rain of black needles to shoot at Chaos. The dragon bobbed and weaved, but a few still struck. They passed right through…hitting one of the gems. Chaos roared in pain.

"It's working!"

Aura hurled sphere after sphere, lance after lance, firing as much as she could to try to hit the beast. Most of her attacks were blocked or evaded…but some…

"YES! That's two down!"

Chaos began to catch onto their plan. It began firing multiple beams of energy from the remaining orbs. Bordeaux took shelter behind the Altar.

Morgana evaded or blocked all of the dragon's attacks. She twisted around with the grace of a dancer, and drew her blade, slamming it into another crystal.

Chaos roared in pain again.

_Now!_

Bordeaux focused her thoughts, and suddenly everything seemed to slow down. She ran up the altar as another crystal was shattered. Chaos saw her, and flew straight at her, hoping to at least take down one of the attackers.

She prepped her blade…and leapt into the air. Chaos roared. She pulled her blade back, twisted as its jaws clamped down, just missing her by inches…and rammed her blade into its brain.

There was a brilliant flash, and an explosion of water.

(end song)

When the light cleared, they were back at the lake. Chaos was kneeling down. It stared at them…and then burst like a balloon. There was a bright blue glow…and the Ideya of Intelligence appeared. It floated down to Aura…and then slammed into her. Whisps of blue energy flew off of her as her body assimilated the crystal's power. She placed her hands over her chest.

"Thank you…Chaos…"

"We got it. We got the bastard!"

Ovan and Morgana simply smiled, while those watching cheered. Even Pai let out an exclamation of joy.

"That…was too close…"

* * *

(play Kingdom Hearts II: Roxas)

"Arietta…what's your brother like?"

"Strong. He's very strong. Both mentally and Physically. He found me…when I was all alone…raised me…took care of me…and in turn…I took care of him. I remember…waking up one day…in the middle of nowhere. He found me…took me home…when I woke up again, I saw him with his head on the bed…sleeping. One of our friends walked in…and said he hadn't left my side for the past three days."

"Wow…he really cared about you huh?"

"Yes…but now he's missing…and I last heard people had spotted him in this place…we were separated…a few years ago."

"I'm sorry…"

"Don't be…you're helping me find him remember?"

"Of course!"

"And at the same time…you're showing me around this place…it's beautiful, I've never been here before."

"It's your first time here huh?"

"Yes…it's such a strange world…but it's amazing."

"Yeah, it is."

"My brother would like it here…I just know it."

"Well…when we find him…we can show him!"

"You're right."

"C'mon, lets go! There's still some more areas we can cover before I have to go home today!"

The two girls left…neither knowing that their friendship…was going to be far more important than either of them would ever realize…

* * *

(Continue song)

Damn, what a ride huh? Aura gets fucked up a few times, Morgana comes in and bails her out of nearly getting killed…and she knows Bordeaux's real name?! Speaking of which, I hope I did her character justice. Third game wont be out till next week, so all I have to go on is how she acts in the first two.

She seems to be a rather vulgar and crude person…which is the best type to write, get to throw in as many curses as I want!

I know this chapter took a while to get out, but look at the size of it! Sixteen pages before I hit the Author's notes! Don't expect chapters of this size too much though, this one was difficult to write, and just kept going!

Before anyone complains, as you saw, I noted Chaos had way more forms than I showed. My original plans for this chapter had him slowly building up to his final form, as they did more damage to him…but then I realized, in canon, Chaos can only be hurt by a direct hit to the head…anywhere else would either pass through, or be deflected.

As you've probably noted, I used a different form for Chaos' final. I made this one up due to it being the Negative energy from the Chaos Emeralds that he used in the game to reach his ultimate form. One would think by using the combined energies of the emeralds he'd have a less screwed up looking form.

Wolfy: Cake caught, eaten and enjoyed. Yep, Bordeaux's nuts…but she's an awesome type of nuts. Hope you like what happens.

Rainfire: I…don't think I know who. You're like, so awesomely wild that I cant figure out what the hell it is you're talking about half the time when you're vague like that…watch I DO know who, but I cant think of it…as for being addicted…YAY my story's a drug! Wohoo!

Xenmaru created Chaos from his memories of older games. Remember, he's been a gamer all his life, so he's bound to have at least found records of Sonic Adventure. Not to mention Chaos is just friggin badass. Besides, MY Chaos wouldn't be beaten by a blue hedgehog that wears shoes and gloves, but no pants.

Yamimaru: Indeed, logic would dictate that Rudra be wind…unfortunately logic had a chance of folding to the will of the masses…

Arcon1: Glad you like it. Here's the next one!

Two for Blue, Two for green. I did a best two out of three coin toss and Green won. So, when the Wind Guardian is defeated, Alkaid's weapon will be finished!


	6. Interlude

_D-Dammit…He's…too strong!_

The three of them had been beaten down. They seemed to be doing well…before their opponent began warping all over the place. The green orb glowed in the background…almost as if it were taunting them.

Weapon floated to the ground,

"Y'know…you did pretty well. The two of you," Here he motioned to the Twin Blades of the group, "had the right amount of speed to match me. You however…" he pointed to Atoli, "Should have stayed as a healer. Your attack spells weren't too weak, but when you pulled out those blades of yours, you kinda threw off the momentum you had built up. Maybe if you'd practiced casting while using those things you'd have done a better job…but for a healer you make a pretty good dual sword user. You had me surprised with that little substitution trick of yours. A little bit more practice with it and I'd have been done for. Your speed was good enough to match my own as well…but like I said, if you'd focused a bit more on making openings, and casting, you'd not have thrown off your group's momentum. Not bad though."

He flicked his blade.

"Pity I can't leave you alive…you'd just come back…and as cute as you all are, I can't let you have this crystal…"

He shot forward.

"NATSUME!"

The green haired woman's head was bowed.

_So this is it…_

The warrior of Wind raced towards the girl in green.

_This is where it ends…where I failed…_

He pivoted his body to the side, preparing himself.

_So it all stops here? Do I just give up? He may have weaknesses…but _can _I…can_ we _actually exploit them?_

Nobody could move as he drew back. Atoli sobbed, Alkaid cursed.

_Are we to fail? Destined to lose?_

His blade became covered in energy, to add extra strength to the attack.

_**No.**_

Unseen by any, the Ideya shined with green light.

**CLANG**

Weapon's green eyes flickered in surprise. "This…this is…"

_**We will not loose.**_

A solid green glow surrounded Natsume.

_**We will succeed.**_

She slowly raised her head.

_**We…will…WIN!**_

Her eyes snapped open. Weapon only let out one phrase.

"Oh shit…"

**Trials of a Goddess**

**Interlude Chapter: The Third Defeated**

It was three days since the defeat of the third Guardian. Alkaid had finally acquired the second half of her new weapon. Agni and Rudra were finally together again…and wielded by the bearer of Courage. Needless to say, many monsters were slain at the hands of the redhead, each kill accompanied by exclamations of awe, excitement, and joy.

Natsume had taken Atoli out to help her better control her Dual Sword capabilities. The Mirage of Deceit's powers were difficult to control. Taking the Wind Guardian's words to heart, she realized to be a more effective fighter, she would have to learn how to combine her new blade abilities, with her already potent spells.

Aura, who was recovering from the fight with Chaos, wasn't around to see the fight against Weapon. So, she decided to check the logs. Oddly enough, she wasn't in contact with anyone else either…

What she found…surprised her immensely…

* * *

Little interlude chapter. I'm too clouded to write much more. The official fifth chapter, where you'll see what happened in the fight against the Third Guardian, will come soon. I've beaten Vol 3, and am now on Post Game events. I still have to get Natsume…and get my Alkaid back up to snuff…and then the Forest of Pain…and then Doppels…and the other quests…

I'll do review replies for both the last chapter, and this interlude on the next one…think of this…like a trailer. Especially the beginning part. That was fun to write.


	7. Weapon

**Trials of a Goddess**

**Chapter V: Of Winds and Women**

(Play FFVII: Voices of the Lifestream: Son of Chaos)

"Dammit this is the third time this month! Asagi, have you figured out where the hell these spikes are coming from?"

"No sir, but they get put down within a period of days at the most as soon as they come, so someone is dealing with them."

"Jakob, do you have anything from the logs?"

"The data is all weird here…but…I think I do. Here, I'll put it up on screen."

The group of tech experts, admins, and debuggers all looked to the large screen at the far back of the room. The screen flickered like a TV with bad reception, switching between nothing, and static…before the picture snaps into place. There was a bubbling sound, as if water was being boiled. The screen was black…until a glowing silver crystal appeared in the center. Within the crystal hovered a figure. The figure was a solid black however, so they couldn't make out any distinguishing features, other than very long hair.

Six different colored flames surrounded the crystal. Slowly, one by one the first three flames died out. Red, Blue, and Green all flickered and vanished. The remaining three, Black, White, and Yellow grew larger, spreading to form a triangle like position.

"What the hell is this?"

The crystal glowed, almost as if in response to the question. The black figure seemed to shudder. Suddenly, a large grotesque body appeared in front of the screen. It looked like a nearly humanoid dragon. It loosed an ear splitting roar, one that seemed to penetrate the very souls of those watching, before the connection was severed.

"Holy Shit!"

"Oh my God!"

"What the fuck?!"

A debugger snickered. Everyone turned to him.

"Sorry, but you all said that at the same time, so it sounded like 'Holy my fuck?'"

Some of the others let out a weak chuckle as well.

Suddenly, a voice rang through the room.

"**So you saw it as well…"**

The voice was female, melodic…hauntingly beautiful…

The screen flickered again, and the face of a pale skinned, white haired girl appeared.

"A-Aura-sama?"

"**Yes. I didn't think that the logs would show something like that…it caught me by surprise as well."**

"This…isn't your doing?"

The girl shook her head.

"**No…I have been…indisposed, for the past few days."**

"Aura…do you know anything about these spikes?"

"**Yes…but I cannot say what it is. It is a matter that should not threaten the network however…we, meaning my cohorts and I, have been dealing with it since it first arrived."**

"Not to sound ungrateful, Lady Aura, but we've got indications of a spike that has been lasting since the end of the first."

That caught the girl by surprise. **"Really? I haven't noticed anything…"**

"That does, and doesn't surprise me. It does because of your stature; it doesn't, because it's been well hidden."

Another of the tech members looked at Asagi confused. "Wait…how would it be hidden if it's a spike?!"

"Well it's more of an anomaly than a spike…but it has the exact same data patterns as the other spikes. Excluding the parts that seem to vary between them."

Aura muttered to herself. **"Could one of them have awakened and not shown themselves yet…?"**

"Awakened?"

"**Did I say that out loud? Dammit, Xen kept telling Alicia to lose that habit…now it's transferred to me…"**

"Xen? As in Xenmaru? As in _Shinigami _Xenmaru?"

"**Oh **_**dammit! **_**I said too much already!" **Aura pouted and scolded herself. **"Look, just forget I said anything alright? This matter only concerns those who are involved, it's no risk to the network; I think…but it definitely doesn't need to be looked into by anyone but myself and my allies. Though…as the reigning Administrator for The World, I am going to ask you to forward me any new spikes you pick up. Chances are we'll already know about them, but in the off chance you catch it before we do, I want to be informed, understood?"**

"Yes Ma'am!" One of the more cheeky members gave a mock salute.

"**Damn right you're saluting me. You, uhh…Makato, give that man a raise!"**

The lead Administrator and the boss of the group could do little but nod in obedience.

"**Good. The contact information will appear on your HD within the next five minutes. Now if you'll excuse me, I have more research to do."**

With that, the screen blinked out. The crew was stunned.

"So…that was Aura huh?"

"Yeah…that she was…"

"What was she saying about Shinigami Xenmaru?"

"Who knows…that girl was always working in mysterious ways…"

"Maybe she knows why we haven't been able to get into contact with him…"

"Enough. She will tell us if she deems us required to know. Until then, everything is in her hands…"

One of the debuggers, Vincent spoke up. "Not too reliable though…I mean, she DOES seem to sleep a lot…"

"Someone needs to get that girl a Dr. Pepper…"

One of the two females of the group chipped in. "Or a sex toy."

Everyone stared at her.

"What? It would _give _her a reason to be asleep so much."

The other piped up. "You know, she's technically a working mother…what with Zefie and all…"

It took a few moments for that to sink in. Half the group, including both women, spoke all at once.

"MILF!"

"Definitely."

"**I HEARD THAT!"**

"Oh, CRAP!"

* * *

Aura stood with a heavy blush on her face. At first it was out of annoyance…then embarrassment. She grumbled about "stupid meatbags" and "perverted humans" while she searched the logs for any records of the battle against the Guardian of Wind. She found three matches, however the first two were corrupted. Unable to fix them, even with _her _skills, she discarded them. The third pulled up a screen and sat back to watch. The last thing that went through her mind before the log started was… 

_Hmm…maybe when I get him back I can have Xen-NO! BAD AURA! NO DIRTY THOUGHTS!_

And she resumed her grumbling.

**

* * *

**

The dark skinned man went flying back, only to flip and land on his knees. He stood up, panting slightly.

"Not bad…I didn't think I'd have to use this form…though you're girls…I should have expected better…especially from one with the will of the Fox Clan like you Alkaid."

Natsume was confused. "Form? What are you talking about?"

"Ahh, you've not been around to see it? Well then…you're in for a treat…"

Suddenly, his body flared with green light. Along his body, strange green lines traced themselves along where his veins were. They shined green and then exploded with light.

When the light cleared, in front of them, the once tanned man had changed. In front of them floated a strange, almost robotic creature. On its back were strange vent-like protrusions that seemed to serve as wings. Its shoulders were covered in armored pads; arms seemed to be covered in some unusual stretchy, but scaly looking material. Its torso was lightly armored as well. The legs were armored too, but on the sides of the knees were another set of vent looking objects. Its legs reached down to pointed tips. Its head looked almost humanoid, excluding the strange, almost mask like object over where its eyes were.

On its left arm was a small octagon like object, while on its right was a flip open extending blade. The armor was colored a dark green, while the exposed parts were a light tan. The strange green vein-like sections from the beginning of the transformation were there as well.

"Wow!"

"It looks like…an avatar…"

(Play Zone of the Enders 2: Leo! Leo!)

Weapon's voice came from the creature. "Pretty cool huh? Pity it has to be used against you like this…"

Green energy emanated from his body, and then exploded around him.

"But I can't let you have that crystal!"

He began floating, and then he vanished in a ripple of air.

"Wait, that was-!"

Atoli was sent flying by a swift punch to the face as Weapon reappeared. He then flew to the side to avoid a leaping strike from Alkaid. He grabbed her by the arm and spun around rapidly. He released her and she flew into Natsume, who was running at him. The two of them flew off of the railing, and onto another portion of the Dragonbein Range. They landed heavily.

"Wow…I didn't know he could do that…"

"I didn't know we could GET to this part of the area!"

Natsume quickly pushed Alkaid out of the way, and hopped to the side as Weapon's blade struck the ground where they once were. Suddenly a scream rang through the area.

"**INNIS!"**

_Innis? What the hell is…whoa…_

Atoli had transformed into her Avatar. The entire area became-

"Avatar Space!"

"Now we won't be knocked out of the area anymore!"

Weapon took one good look at Innis.

"Sweet ride. Let's see how it handles."

Innis charged at him, its host, Atoli, loosing a battle cry. Weapon smirked under the helmet thing, and rocketed towards her. She swung her left blade, only to have him swiftly dodge to the side, and counter.

"What the-

She vanished.

**Haze of Treason**

Suddenly he found himself being assaulted by four apparitions of Innis. All four of them surrounded him, slashed with their left blades, followed with their right, and then finished with a series of spinning slashes that went through him like a saw blade. He got knocked towards the 'ground' where Alkaid and Natsume waited. Alkaid linked the chain of attacks by beginning with a cross slash, followed by a spinning kick that lead to a double horizontal swing with both blades, which knocked Weapon to Natsume.

Natsume finished the assault with a left swing from her right blade, flipped it around, swung back, stabbed with her left blade, flipped over, slashed him twice with her right one again, and then yanked her left out of him to send him flying with a double footed kick.

Weapon slammed into the ground.

"Yes!"

Suddenly a large green energy orb slammed into Natsume, sending her flying.

"Natsume!"

Alkaid was suddenly assaulted by the blurred form of Weapon. Using his shield, he smashed her in the face to knock her off balance, and then rapidly slashed her repeatedly, before sweeping her legs out from under her, and then jamming a pointed leg into her stomach to knock her away.

Innis was about to rush him, when it was slammed into by Weapon.

"**How-**

Weapon kept blinking out of existence, followed by a swing of his blade. The repeated strikes took their toll on Innis, but he wasn't done. He grabbed Innis' arm, spun it around repeatedly, and then launched it. His wings slammed open, and he vanished again, only to appear in Innis' trajectory.

"Hmph…it's over…"

He blinked again.

* * *

Aura missed what happened. It was too fast. One second Weapon was in front of Innis, the next behind it, and the next, Innis was being practically torn apart by an orb of wind energy. She pressed a few ethereal keys and slowed it down from the point where Weapon was standing in Innis' path.

* * *

A strange looking dome of air rippled out from Weapon, almost creating a bubble around him. Within that bubble, Weapon held his right hand, palm face up, in front of him. Within it swirled a stream of green energy. Then, another stream appeared going a different direction, then another, then another. A series of strange swirls materialized within his hand, before a small sphere appeared around them, containing it. The rapidly spinning orb gave off a glowing green light. 

As this happened, it looked as if Innis had barely moved an inch.

Weapon positioned himself, as if he were pushing against something. The front 'wall' of the bubble, extended to a few feet away from Innis' back. Weapon blurred and seemed to warp from place to place, appearing instantly at Innis' back. The bubble then seemed to pop, creating another ripple. Weapon slammed the orb into Innis' back, and then somehow detonated it, causing razor sharp winds to explode from it and horribly slice into the Phase.

* * *

Aura blinked in amazement, and then replayed that part. She called up a timer. She watched it all over again, this time keeping mind of the timing. Her discovery scared her senseless. 

"He did all that…in the span of less than a second…"

* * *

Innis was defeated, and Atoli's body went flying. She slammed into the ground near Alkaid and Natsume, who were struggling to stand. 

_D-Dammit…He's…too strong!_

The three of them had been beaten down. They seemed to be doing well…before their opponent began warping all over the place. The green orb glowed in the background…almost as if it were taunting them.

Weapon floated to the ground,

"Y'know…you did pretty well. The two of you," Here he motioned to the Twin Blades of the group, "had the right amount of speed to match me. You however…" he pointed to Atoli, "Should have stayed as a healer. Your attack spells weren't too weak, but when you pulled out those blades of yours, you kinda threw off the momentum you had built up. Maybe if you'd practiced casting while using those things you'd have done a better job…but for a healer you make a pretty good dual sword user. You had me surprised with that little substitution trick of yours. A little bit more practice with it and I'd have been done for. Your speed was good enough to match my own as well…but like I said, if you'd focused a bit more on making openings, and casting, you'd not have thrown off your group's momentum. Not bad though."

He flicked his blade.

"Pity I can't leave you alive…you'd just come back…and as cute as you all are, I can't let you have this crystal…"

He shot forward.

"NATSUME!"

The green haired woman's head was bowed.

_So this is it…_

The warrior of Wind raced towards the girl in green.

_This is where it ends…where I failed…_

He pivoted his body to the side, preparing himself.

_So it all stops here? Do I just give up? He may have weaknesses…but _can _I…can_ we _actually exploit them?_

Nobody could move as he drew back. Atoli sobbed, Alkaid cursed.

_Are we to fail? Destined to lose?_

His blade became covered in energy, to add extra strength to the attack.

_**No.**_

Unseen by any, the Ideya shined with green light.

**CLANG**

Weapon's green eyes flickered in surprise. "This…this is…"

_**We will not loose.**_

A solid green glow surrounded Natsume.

_**We will succeed.**_

She slowly raised her head.

_**We…will…WIN!**_

Her eyes snapped open. Weapon only let out one phrase.

"Oh shit…"

(Play Nightwish: Dark Chest of Wonders)

The green light surrounding Natsume flared to life, and Weapon was knocked flying back. He quickly recovered however, but did nothing except stare.

"How…how did you…"

Unknown to her, in the real world, Natsume Oguro began to glow a faint green.

Natsume stood slowly, her glowing green eyes staring at Weapon, much like how the lifeless Azure Flame Kite would glare at whoever his target was, just before he struck. She drew her blades, stalking forward slowly.

Alkaid stared at the girl. _Damn I knew she had a split personality…but this? This is nuts! But still…she's done _something _new…and I can't just sit back and let her have all the fun!_

A voice rang through Alkaid's head. **It's about time! I was wondering if you'd EVER call upon my power.**

Everyone turned as Alkaid began to glow red. A glowing red orb materialized in front of her as she stood. It pulled back, and then slammed into her chest, creating a blinding flash. When the light faded, surrounding her body was a faint red outline of…

"A fox…Kira?!"

Alkaid's mouth moved, but a different voice came out of it. **"Sorry Weapon…but this girl beat me proper. Looks like I'm taking you on again."**

"Dammit…I underestimated them…"

"_**Enough talk! I'm gonna kick your ass!"**_

Before anyone could react, Natsume was already in Weapon's face, swinging.

_DAMN!_

Weapon lurched back, narrowly avoiding getting his head sliced off. He raised his blade arm and blocked the next swing, only to be punched in the face by Alkaid, who had appeared next to him. Natsume followed up with a cross slash for his chest, which was dodged by a mid-air back flip. He reversed his momentum and lunched forward only to have his arm knocked out of the way by one of Natsume's blades, and find himself knocked back by a kick to the face from Alkaid.

_They're…winning…_

**Alkaid, follow my instructions…**

Alkaid nodded at what the voice said, and twirled her blades focusing her thoughts on creating fire. A ring of red light formed around them, and suddenly her blades were engulfed in a crimson blaze.

Natsume twirled left to avoid a small energy shot from Weapon and then lunged. Her blades flashed, covered in the bright green aura. Weapon brought both shield and sword into play, barely blocking her attacks. When one got through, he flew back, but went with it, and flew off.

"Is he…running away?"

Weapon flew down under the bridge they were fighting on, and then flew back up, launching a gigantic energy orb at Natsume.

"Nat look out!"

The green clad girl whirled around to herald her potential destruction…

"Oh no you don't!"

A green and white blur shot in front of Natsume and slammed into the orb.

"A-Atoli?"

Indeed, Atoli struggled against the energy orb, holding her Lost Weapon like a bat…when finally it gave, and she smashed it back. The surprise of the maneuver stunned Weapon, and he was hit with his own attack. The familiar multi-colored rings appeared around him.

"What…what is this…?"

**NOW!**

Alkaid began to rise. Her form blurred as she shot forward.

_**RENGEKI!**_

"**Satsugeki Bukouken!"**

Alkaid slammed a flame covered fist into Weapon's face, knocking him to the bridge. She followed up with a stomp that sent a blazing shockwave along the ground, popping him up into the air. Blades covered in flame, she slashed repeatedly at him, finishing with an overhead double bladed spinning slam…but she wasn't done.

**It's not over yet!**

_**Double Trigger**_

Alkaid twirled her blades around her and then crossed her arms. Her body burst into crimson flame. The light of Courage shone from her heart as the flame first took the shape of a roaring nine-tailed fox, and then a bird.

"**Houou…TENSHOUKU!"**

She leapt at weapon, soaring like a great firebird. The attack lifted him up, repeatedly dealing immense amounts of damage and then exploded, sending him flying.

_Innis…help me!_

Atoli's Lost Weapon shone, and then shattered. The pieces all swirled together into an orb in front of her, and she crossed her arms over her chest. The Cursed Symbols appeared on her body, and she raised her arms to the air. The orb flew into them as she brought them sharply to her sides, two small blue orbs of light appearing, creating two long blue blades of energy.

She focused her thoughts and…

"LEI ZAS!"

A wave of light energy slammed into Weapon's side. Atoli floated into the air, and then raced for him. He tried to recover, but she was on him faster than he had expected. She swung wildly, and rapidly, savagely tearing into him like a woman possessed. Twirling like a top she sawed into him, only to vanish, then reappear spinning like a saw to vanish and appear again, arms crossed, and then one final smash with her blades, knocking him away once again.

_I think…I know…how…a pinball feels…_

The multi-colored rings appeared again.

_This is it…_

Natsume floated into the air…then rocketed forward.

_**RENGEKI!**_

"**TEMPEST!"**

Left, right, left, right, spin, backwards stab, left blade neck slash-leap right swing, land-hop-multi spin slash, land-spin-double slash-hop right foot to face, pivot, left heel to side, hop-left foot on chest followed by punt to face, X slash-flip double overhead slam, uppercut to right blade slam and she finished with a leap, followed by a flip to double bladed smash to his back, sending him flying again…but she wasn't done.

_This is the end…_

The green energy around her condensed into her right hand. A spiraling orb appeared.

_This…is the last strike…_

Red light swirled around Alkaid, collecting in her left hand. A blazing flame contained in a red orb floated above her palm.

_This…is our victory…_

The two orbs spun around her body. Atoli placed her hands on her chest and wished for the power to defeat their opponent.

Her…no…Their wish was granted.

The three of them leapt at him at the same time. All three attacks slammed into him from three directions. All three attacks exploded as one, sending the three girls flying, and flaring a great deal of light.

(End Song)

When the light cleared, all three girls were on their backs, groaning.

They slowly got up, to see Weapon standing in the center of where they met, unharmed…but in his original form.

"Damn girls! I didn't think you'd be able to do shit like that!"

They all lowered their heads.

"Oh cheer up! You won! Kicked my ass somethin fierce! Wouldn't have been the same outcome if I'd shown up a little later though…but bah, who cares about details?"

"We…won?"

"Yep. Fair and Square. I hate to give it up, but the Crystal is yours."

At those words the green orb floated down to Natsume, and flew into her body.

"I don't know how you did it…but you were able to tap into its power during that fight, _without _having it previously. I guess you must be a natural at wind manipulation or something…"

He started to fade.

"Oh right, before I forget. Alkaid…this…is for you."

A green light flared to life before her…and when it faded, two serrated curved blades, one red, one green, floated before her. The Ideya of Courage and the Ideya of Wisdom appeared. They circled her for a few moments, before slamming into her.

The light faded, and she felt…different.

"What…happened?"

"Take a look at your status."

She pulled up the menu and checked. What she saw made her choke on air.

"Gah-What? Double-Edge? What happened to my class?!"

"It changed. Upgraded, if you will. It's essentially a Twin Blade sub-class…it came from the fact that those two blades, Agni and Rudra, can combine into one double edged blade."

"But…I'm not a-

"Think of it as a gift…" His body faded, but his voice whispered in her ear.

"…a gift…for being there for him…so many years ago…"

* * *

(Play KHII Complete: Roxas) 

The screen flickered, and the log ended. Aura flicked her wrist, and the screen turned black, and then vanished. She leaned back in her chair, absently twirling a lock of her hair around her finger as she thought.

_They won…we have another Ideya…but…_

She was conflicted. She felt happy that they won, and survived, for she had grown worried while watching…but…

_Other than Kira…every win we made came from a last second miracle…even I, the most powerful being in this world…was almost killed…_

She shuddered at the thought. Having a 300 MPH spinning twister of death slam into your chest was anything but fun…made less so if it shot out the other side…

_Is his mind that strong? Are the protections he made that solid? Had Natsume not linked with the Ideya of Wisdom…not only would we have lost very close friends…but we might have lost the chance to get Xen back…Are we not strong enough? Are we missing something? They all fight to protect the Crystals…but why? Why fight so hard? What is it that they know that we don't?_

_And why…why do I feel like something horrible is coming…?_

**

* * *

**

**Delta: Hidden Forbidden Waterfall**

"Wow…this place is beautiful…"

"I know…I come here to think a lot."

"Oh…what's this?"

"That…"

Arietta stopped in front of the giant A that was on the ground. It no longer glowed, due to the lack of AIDA presence required to activate the warp.

"That was made…while my brother was trying to wake me up…"

"It's rather…ugly…isn't it?"

"Yeah…but it was the only way he could get around undetected…there's a few of them in different places...none of them work anymore, so I've been wondering why nobody fix…es…them…"

While Aina was speaking, Arietta had placed her hand on the sign and started to glow. The sign slowly disappeared, being replaced with the normal colors and gravel of the bridge. After a minute or two, the sign had completely vanished, and Arietta stood, swiping the dust off her skirt, and beamed happily at Aina.

"How…how did you…" _She's so cute when she does that…_

"I may not look it, but I'm good with my hands. Before we all got separated, I was very good at repairs!"

"That's…amazing!" _That brought back the beauty to this place…_

Arietta wobbled a bit, but shook her head and steadied herself.

"Hey, are you alright?"

"I'm fine…I just haven't done that in a while…my body's not used to it."

"Oh…darn…I was gonna ask if you could do that again…"

"I can. In fact it'd be better if I did. So my body would remember how it felt quicker. Besides, it took too long…I'm out of practice, so I need to get my skills back!"

Aina smiled at her friend, and grasped her hand.

"Well then, I know a few more areas that have one of those. Care to work your magic?"

"Sure thing! It might even help me find my brother…"

The two of them walked, hand in hand, to the warp point…but before they left, as Aina was choosing the options.

"You sounded…funny when you said that…what did you mean by 'good with your hands?'"

The last thing Aina saw, was Arietta turning to look at her, cheeks flushed, a twinkle in her eyes.

"You'll just have to find out now wont you?"

**

* * *

**

**CHAPTER V: END**

You're all free to infer to that line as you choose. By the way, that whole conversation from when "Vincent" spoke, to Aura yelling at them, was from a conversation my friend Vince and I had a couple days ago about some things in .hack. One of the topics was once again Aura. We had a good laugh at that.

Lets see…Atoli, Alkaid, and Natsume kicking ass, a bit more of Aura's growing emotions and the digital equivalent of hormones, and some Arietta-Aina bonding. I'm sure I gave away one of the key plot points earlier in the chapter, so if you think you spotted it DON'T say it in a review. Tell me through a PM. Of course still review, but leave the plot things out for the PM. Or email if you don't have an account here.

**Satsugeki Bukouken: Killing Drama Dancing Wild Fist. Damn that's a mouthful.**

**Houou Tenshouku: Phoenix Soaring Drive.**

From Chapter 4 (5 on list thingie):

Yamimaru: Keyblade? Which one? Personally I like Way to Dawn…and the one you get in FM+ for whupping Roxas…that looks soooo badass. But I think I'd also go with Terra's. I mean, it splits into two, turns into a double bladed Axe thing, and can turn into an energy cannon. What's not to like?

Rainfire: Well not MY Chaos. Normal Chaos yes, would, and did get owned by a spiky blue hedgehog. MY Chaos however uses ALL the power of the emeralds to turn into his TRUE form…so no Super Sonic. Especially since in the Adventure games, there's only Seven, and there are no "Special Stages" (Heroes doesn't count). And yes, awesomely wild is good, you remind me of Haruhi. Just as freakin random, and just as awesome.

And remember, Shinzaki Zero has been a gamer all his life. Pluto's Kiss I think occurred around 2005 or something, so yeah, having a Dreamcast isn't THAT surprising.

Wolfy: Sonic's Chaos. And no way I couldn't miss out on talking about Hotaru and Odongo head. Well since this incarnation of Chaos was based on the SA Chaos, and the Master Emerald could nullify the powers of the Chaos Emeralds, I figured why not have the Master Emerald be able to tap The World, and block out the fragments of Morgana that allows for access to the Avatar forms? And the US version of Yu-Gi-Oh only had the one crappy opening, with different images to support it. The JP Yu-Gi-Oh, like damn near all original versions of Anime, had like, eight or more.

And my army of hungry moogles eats all your cakes.

From Interlude Chapter (6 on FFN's list thingie):

TheAzureDolphin: I'm surprised, and yet not. Wasn't much of an update. I don't know, are you dead? And I expect you to hate them. I hate them too, but they're needed sometimes. Brings the readers back ne?

Wolfy: Yep, Green won. And Natsume DID kick ass. And we learn what Aura finds…

Hoo…next chapter…will have some awkward, but funny moments, and an Omake! A couple firsts in the next chapter…both of which lead to…interesting situations and conversations, you wont want to miss it!


	8. Interlude: Visions

**Trials of a Goddess**

**Interlude: Eyes of the Goddess**

(Play Halo 2: Unforgotten)

The Dragon roared at the group, roared in triumph. None of their attacks were strong enough to damage it. Not even the Eight Phases themselves were able to defeat him. So what hope did a group of human PCs have against such a powerful enemy?

"Damn…not a single attack went through!"

"His barrier is too strong; even Corbenik's barrier wasn't THAT strong!"

"It's like fighting Cubia all over again…"

Bordeaux stumbled to her feet, picking up her sword.

"So what? We just give the hell up? FUCK that shit! I don't care WHAT it takes, that son-of-a-bitch is going _DOWN!_"

A blue light shot out of her chest, and hovered in front of her. Lights flew out of Tabby's, Alkaid's, Natsume's, Aina's, and Zelkova's chests as well.

"Damn right you're not giving up yet!"

"Aina, we can do this, we just need to hold him off long enough for Aura to recover! Please, help me find my brother!"

"Come on Tabby, you really think it's gonna be over like this?"

"Zelkova…do not think that beast is without weakness…this battle is not over just yet."

"Hey, cutie, don't think it's over just cause that thing managed to knock you down. Get back up and let's kick its ass!"

_**My master is not himself…I wish…for him to return to who he once was…and to do that…we must destroy what corrupts him.**_

The six stood where the others still kneeled.

"They're right you know…we can't just give up now…Aura…no…The World…no…_Zero _is counting on us! We've all been picked by his guardians to wield their power, which is basically like being picked by the man himself! We have to stop that thing, no matter what!"

Kira's form merged with Alkaid's and a red fox-like aura surrounded her.

Natsume nodded. "Yeah…I still have to pay him back for beating me like that…Edgemaster Natsume is gonna take that dragon down!"

Weapon's form merged with Natsume's and a green aura surrounded her.

"I may not have known him personally, but a friend of Aura's is a friend of mine! I will not give up until I see Aura's smiling face again!"

Anubis' form merged with Zelkova, and a golden yellow glow surrounded him.

"When The World finds out I helped take down the great Shinigami…my reputation will be restored! The most fearsome PKer in The World is coming back!"

Chaos' form fused with Bordeaux and a blue glow surrounded her.

"I can't give up here…I have to get him back…so Aura-nee-chan will be happy again…and so I can get Arietta's brother back…please…just a little more!"

A white glow surrounded her.

"I don't know what's going on…but I can tell it's tied to what put Shino in that coma…this isn't something I can do outside of The World…so I'll fight, even if I'm not that strong…I want…to make Haseo…and Shino…and Ovan proud of me!"

Lucied merged with her, and she glowed black.

The six of them stood together as the dragon roared again.

"This is it! We won't lose this time!"

* * *

Aura snapped awake. _Wh-what was that? Was that a dream? __**Can **__I even dream? But if it wasn't a dream, then what was it? What was going on? What was that Dragon? If they were fighting, then where was I? Dammit what does it all mean? And why the HELL are my pants wet?!_

She looked down and saw a very small pool of blood. She blinked, looked up, then looked down and blinked again.

"Oh hell no."

She blinked again.

"This is impossible. I'm not human I'm a freaking AI! How the hell-

_**You have changed from what you once were.**_

She flinched and started looking around. Her body glowed blue and a small blue orb hovered in front of her.

"C-Chaos? You can talk?"

_**Technically. I speak through the mind, for I have no voice.**_

"I can see that…what did you mean 'changed from what I once was'?"

_**You have become more than just data in the internet. Your experiences, both alone, and with my master have evolved you into more. You are not human, yet you are, and you are not data, yet you are. You are like he, a wandering soul contained in an unknown world.**_

"Wait…you're saying…I really AM a Goddess?"

_**I would not put such extremes. However your existence is beyond that of mere data, as powerful as you were, and beyond that of humanity. You are like Sora, a mind placed within the world, able to bend it to her will. Your creator most likely intended you to become such, which is why Morgana reacted so fiercely, she saw what you were to become, and feared her destruction. She too was more human than many realize.**_

"That doesn't explain the bleeding. Human females bleed from…_there_…as part of the reproduction process. I can't reproduce…uhh…can I?"

_**Who knows? You created Zefie from part of your data as your daughter, but then, you WERE only data. Now you are more, so perhaps you can…**_

Aura blushed.

_**I know your thoughts; I have seen what lies deep within your heart. Your creator and father, Harald, intended you to know humans on an intimate level. Knowing their thoughts, their reasoning's, their actions, all so you could be the perfect daughter, the perfect AI, and he succeeded in that. You think of my master in ways that a Human Female would think of a Male she was attracted to.**_

"But…I felt that way about Shugo!"

_**To an extent. You were still data then, so your feelings were new, but diluted. Your 'mind' then wasn't as it is now. Do you still feel the same?**_

"No…no I don't."

_**That could be due to your lack of contact, or because your feelings have shifted to a different, more suitable target. My Master is part of This world now, no longer does he have ties to the Human world. Logically, your mind would subconsciously latch on to that notion, and place him as the most suitable target of your affections.**_

She blushed again.

_**Of course, the merge between Dark and Light has had a massive effect on this…**_

"What do you mean?"

_**As was explained long ago, your existence was corrupted by Morgana's attempts to stay in the network. However Tsukasa wiped that corruption from you when she woke you. But in the realm of Logic, which is the primary home of data, you cannot erase something, and have it vanish entirely. That negative data converged into the being known as Alicia. Alicia held the parts of you that you were missing, hate, envy, scorn, anger, lust, sorrow, fear, pain and others. When the two of you were merged together, you regained these feelings.**_

"That would also help to explain why I feel about him the way I do…because She did…and She was simply half of Me."

_**Exactly. However such a massive changed in your overall existence, like with humans, is not something that can happen overnight. So it takes a while for everything to be settled. Your 'body' is adjusting to the change, and like any living being, is slowly compensating for what you will become. Notice how your speech patterns have shifted from quiet and reserved to a louder, more outgoing set of phrases. You curse more often, and you speak like a normal everyday human.**_

"I did notice that…"

_**As for the bleeding, human females go through that once every month or so, after a certain age…however seeing as you are not human…I can assume that it is your natural data banks that are forcing your 'body' to do this…in other words, this is probably the only time it will happen. Your 'subconscious' is attempting to figure out what you are, human, data, or both. As such, it will be forcing your body to do random things until it adjusts to what you are.**_

"Oh good…I've seen what happens, I don't really want to deal with that…"

_**You are not fully human, so you wont. This was more than likely just your data adjusting, and causing a reaction to help facilitate your connection to humans.**_

She nodded and sighed.

_**Now…as for that…vision…I don't know what it means…**_

"Well I know one thing…"

_**And that is?**_

"You don't belong to me. You belong to her."

_**That may be…perhaps I was to go with you to assist you in your knowledge…and now that I have, you no longer need me.**_

"Perhaps…either way, I'll keep an eye out for her, and grab her when I find her. Thank you Chaos."

_**You are quite welcome.**_

* * *

Somewhere, great desert that lay on the edge of The World…a golden yellow light appeared. A great sandstormkicked up as it appeared.

The Fourth Guardian has arrived…

* * *

Alright, another interlude chapter. I had to write this the way I did because I've been wanting to have a vision sequence, and because I came up with a WICKED set of ideas for the last few chapters. I'll answer reviews for both this, and the previous chapter in my next one. And the next one will have the omake. 


	9. Awakening of Earth

**Trials of a Goddess**

**Chapter VI: Awakening of the Guardian of Earth**

(Play .hack GU: Troublesome Girl)

_How do human women DEAL with this crap?!_

Aura was currently sitting on "her" bed, clutching her stomach. The white haired AI(?) was growing increasingly annoyed with her current situation. An alarm blared…only to have itself blown to smithereens by a scowling Aura.

_I swear…I've new respect for human girls…_

She blinked as she realized what the alarm meant. She reached out with her 'mind' and grabbed hold of the data she found. Within moments a glowing blue orb appeared before her and expelled its contents.

"What the fuck? This isn't where I chose to warp!"

"No crap."

The short haired woman whirled around.

"What the hell? Aura?"

"More or less."

"Uhh…you alright? You're not lookin' too good there."

"Thank you captain obvious. Oh I'm just BLEEDING FROM THE FREAKING CROTCH!"

The woman blinked. Then snickered. Then fell on her ass laughing.

"Yeah sure, laugh at the girl in pain. Honestly I don't know HOW you people deal with this every month."

"Oh it pisses us off too…but I guess WE were made for it, so we can deal…you on the other hand…"

"Don't ask because I don't know. God I wish I had some ice cream…"

**DING**

The two of them blinked…and then a container of ice cream crashed into Aura's head from above, spilling its contents all over her. Once again, her companion fell to the ground laughing.

"God…DAMMIT! I've been dealing with crap like this ALL DAY! Now I'm gonna have cookie pieces in my hair for days!"

The woman just laughed harder.

Aura just sat there and pouted until she stopped laughing.

"You done?"

"Sure…until you do something else."

"I'll try not to move then. Anyway…I called you here for a reason Bordeaux."

"I figured. The show's been nice, but you don't seem the type to just grab people out of boredom."

"You'd be surprised what I get up to when I'm bored enough. But that's irrelevant right now…"

The Ideya of Intelligence appeared.

"This…belongs to you."

"What are you talking about?"

"Let's just say…I was a placeholder. It's yours. Take it."

Bordeaux walked over to the crystal…which flew into her.

"What just-

"That's normal."

"Right…anything else you wanted to throw at me?"

Aura just shrugged, got up…and slipped on the ice cream.

Again Bordeaux started laughing.

Aura was now horribly embarrassed.

_I wish a hole would just…swallow me up and take me somewhere else…_

**DING**

Aura froze. "Oh CRAP wai-

A glowing silver portal opened beneath her, and she fell.

"THIS SUUUUUUuuuuuuuuuuks!"

And then promptly vanished…just as a large group of people warped in.

They all stared at Bordeaux.

"I didn't do it!"

* * *

The desert sand swirled around the golden yellow light. A figure slowly walked out of the twister. In its hands was a long spear. 

_It is almost time…_

* * *

The portal opened in a strange white room. Aura flew out and slammed onto the floor. 

"I have _got _to stop doing that…"

She rose to her feet and surveyed the area around her.

"Well this is familiar."

She aimlessly walked around, looking for some form of exit.

"Alright, how do I get out of here?"

Suddenly an archway appeared. Aura blinked.

"Well…that's helpful. Thanks…uhh…nothingness…"

She walked through the gateway…only to find herself in a dark alley.

(Play Halo 2: High Charity)

She exited the alley and looked around.

"This…looks like…a slum…"

"Indeed."

She jumped and looked around, only to look down and see a dog with a television for a head.

"Uhh…"

"Surprised?"

"Yeah…and yet…no…is this…Net Slum?"

"Why yes it is."

"Huh…well…it's certainly changed."

"You've been here before?"

"Many years ago. And even then, only once. It wasn't so…brown."

"Well, we ARE above the desert."

"We are? Wait, we have a desert? Since when?"

"My dear how long has it been since you last came here?"

"About…uhh…maybe four years? Or maybe more."

"Ahh, so you were around during the days of R:1"

"Yeah. I've been…uhh…away…since then."

"Well, much like The World at large, Net Slum has changed as well. Why don't you take a look around? You might find someone you recognize."

"I doubt that…"

"Nonsense, the player Haseo and his friends come here frequently. And _everybody _knows Haseo."

Aura giggled. "I'll give you that. He _is _popular. Alright…thanks then…I'll take a walk."

"Have fun!"

The dog…thing…trotted away. Aura shook her head and mumbled. "I think I'd rather talk to the flat spinning blonde girl…"

The girl wandered around, taking in the sights. _A desert? I didn't know about that…and where the HELL am I? I know this is Net Slum…supposedly, but still, why did that portal drop me _here _of all places?_

She saw the beings wandering, shouting nonsensical things. _As usual, not even I can tell who is created, and who is natural. At least one thing hasn't changed about it…I still miss the old denizens of Net Slum however…I never did get around to seeing what I could do for them…_

It was at this time she walked into a wall. She stepped back clutching her nose. "Stupid wall! Where did you come from anyway?!"

She glared at it, entertaining thoughts of blowing it to bits. She squashed those ideas, noting that she might inadvertently destroy an important component of the area's structural integrity. Instead, she opted to observe it, noticing that there was something…off…about it.

_This…isn't a wall at all! It's a hidden door…one that's only usable by those keyed into it!_

Of course, being the Goddess of The World comes with a few perks…like being able to hack any protection she wanted.

_Pure Pazaak! Wait…where did that come from and what the HELL is Pazaak?_ The faint image of a strange looking set of cards, along with the feeling of annoyance flooded through her mind.

"Huh…guess that answers my question…"

She shook her head of the odd feelings and walked through the now open gateway. After a few seconds of blackness, she entered the Bridge of Net Slum.

"Hello…this is new…"

She looked out the windows at the view of the desert. Her eyes widened in amazement. _All this…and I never knew…Nina's right…I do need to get out more…_

She turned away and noticed the console in the center of the room. She started tinkering with it, when a strong female voice called out.

"Who are you?!"

Aura jumped and whirled around. "Jeez lady don't scare me like that!" _Strange…that's not what I intended to say…_

Standing before her were two people, one was a little boy with silver hair, golden eyes and horns on his head. The other was a taller woman with dark hair and a strange red jewel mark on her forehead. Aura's eyes flashed as she looked at their character data.

_Zelkova and Kaede? Why do they sound so familiar to me?_

"How did you get in here?!"

Blinking at the woman's tone, an annoyed look settled on Aura's face and she changed her stance to a more confrontational one.

"I hacked open the door…after the damn wall came out of nowhere and smacked me in the face."

Zelkova blinked and held back a chuckle.

"You…hacked…impossible! That gateway has some of the strongest protections available on it! Only those allowed can open it!"

"Pfft, you call _those _protections? I could cut through those in my sleep!" She flipped her hair over her shoulder, staring cockily at the two. "Besides, there's practically _nothing _in this world I can't access."

"Then I will have to report you to the administrators and have your account banned."

(Play Bleach: Enemy Unseen)

Aura laughed. "Now THAT is impossible."

Kaede glared. "And why do you say that?"

"I don't _have _an account. I _live _here, this is _my _world."

At those words the area started shaking as Aura's irritation started taking hold. Kaede's and Zelkova's vision began to flicker as the world around Aura began to distort.

"Please, calm down Lady Aura. Kaede meant no disrespect."

The rumbling slowed, and their vision cleared as Aura slowly relaxed.

"At least one of you knows who I am."

Kaede had a bright red flush on her cheeks. Embarrassment like no other raced through her body and mind as she realized what her companion just said.

"Lady…Aura?"

Aura turned her irritated gaze to the taller woman…who promptly dropped to her knees in a VERY low bow.

"My deepest apologies Lady Aura…I did not recognize you…I thought you no more than a common hacker…"

Aura crossed her arms. She was still irritated, but it was fading.

"Hmph. You should really pay more attention to what goes on around you. Your companion figured it out before you did, and I can tell you're the elder of the two."

"I'm sorry Lady Aura, I meant no disrespect-

Aura waved her off. "Yeah yeah, forget it. Now you know better." She turned to Zelkova. "As for you…normal players don't know of me that well. And I don't recognize you at all, who are you?"

"I am Zelkova, the Guildmaster and First Division Captain of Moon Tree…or…what used to be Moon tree."

"I see."

"My partner is Kaede, the Third Division Captain of Moon Tree."

"Uh huh…You're the people that spawned that cretin Sakaki." A condensed sphere of data appeared in her right hand.

"Tell me one reason why I shouldn't wipe out your characters right now for not keeping a tighter leash on someone like that. You're the Leader and Master of Moon Tree you claim, and yet you let him run wild and cause such damage to my world."

"I have no excuse Lady Aura. Sakaki…fooled us all."

"Bullshit! I can tell, it's written all over your character, you had the power to stop him, the power to keep him in line, but you let him do as he pleased! There were clues to his true nature, obvious leads showing he wasn't who he pretended to be! You could have stopped him, and barring that, at least slowed him, yet you stood by and didn't act until the last minute! Tell me why I should allow someone who so callously allows something like that to cause such chaos in my world exist?!" _Y'know…I should smack Ovan around for the crap he pulled too…in fact, I think I will…blame it on this stupid period._

"I truly have no excuse Lady Aura. I didn't…want to believe it. Do with me as you wish, but I implore you, please, leave Kaede out of this…she…was trying to convince me that Sakaki wasn't who we believed he was…"

_He truly holds remorse for his lack of action…perhaps…I can let him go…with a warning._

The sphere faded. "You're lucky you're so sincere. If you weren't, I'd have had to terminate your character. I'll let you go…but if I find you have a hand in the rise of something like that again…"

"I will gladly accept my fate. Thank you Lady Aura, your generosity knows no bounds."

A small flush appeared on her face. "Enough with the praises already…making me blush…"

Suddenly the bridge shook violently.

"What the hell?!"

"Lord Zelkova, look!"

"A sandstorm! But…that's not right…Tartarga would have avoided it!"

"Not if it appeared out of nowhere."

"A sandstorm…out of nowhere…" Aura remembered.

"**And then there's the Guardian of Earth, Anubis…"**

"Anubis!"

"Who?"

"He's here! The Fourth Guardian is here!"

"Lady Aura, what are you talking about?"

"Something VERY important!"

Just then, a golden beam of energy fired into the sky. "THERE!"

Aura raced at the window, and before either of the other two could stop her, she phased through, leaping down to the ground.

"I think we should help."

"If that is your wish Lord Zelkova."

* * *

(Play Wild Arms Alter Code F: Warrior's Whistle)

Aura had her arm up over her face as she braved the sandstorm. The winds blew her hair all over the place, and the small particles of sand stung like a legion of bees attacking her. If not for the golden light ahead, she'd be lost in the desert, unknowing of what direction she was headed.

Finally she reached a point that seemed to repel her. _A Barrier? Here? This MUST be the place!_

She closed her eyes to protect them from the sands and braced her hands against the invisible obstruction. Slowly, she pushed herself through. Suddenly, the wall gave way, and she fell forward.

"Not the most graceful entry I've seen."

She blew out a mouthful of sand. "Yeah well fuck you too." _Ok, where did THAT come from?!_

The being in front of her chuckled. "I see his 'taint' has effected even the mightiest of AI. But yet I wonder…did he change you…or merely awaken what was buried within?"

"You know what I am?"

"Indeed. Though, since this world is so well constructed, it is hard sometimes to tell that it is a realm of data."

Aura stood to her full height, getting a good look at the person in front of her. He wore very little, that was the first thing she noticed. Dark brown skin, golden eyes, a long mane of black hair, wicked looking tattoos all over a very muscled body…a golden ankh on an equally golden chain, and he was tall. Quite tall.

Aura blinked twice. "Daaaaaamn."

Anubis laughed heartily. "Indeed. I do seem to receive that reaction a good deal, even among my fellow Guardians."

Aura kept staring at his muscled chest. "Just…_damn!_"

Anubis chuckled again. "Yes yes, I know you enjoy the view, but that is not the reason you came here is it?"

Aura snapped out of her hypnotic state. "Question!"

"Answer."

"Is _he _built like you?"

Anubis roared with laughter. "Not entirely my dear, but similarly, yes. My…physique was intended to look this way. He is not as…chiseled as I am…but he is quite close."

Aura smiled in a very perverse way…until she caught herself, blushed and shook her head wildly. _BAD AURA! No dirty thoughts!_

"You…know why I'm here?"

"To obtain the Ideya of Hope, and come one step closer to returning my master to his existence."

"Y-yes…wow, you're good. How did you know that?"

"Your allies are still a ways from reaching, so I shall answer your questions while we wait. I know this from the link we Guardians share amongst each other. It is truly a pity that Weapon had to fight your group when he did…had he been in my place now, you'd stand no chance."

"Why is that?"

"The first three Guardians you fought, Kira, Chaos, and Weapon, are actually the three strongest of us Four Base elementals. At full strength, Kira can turn any opponent into a flaming mass just by glaring, Chaos, able to form his water into sharp blades that can cut through even the toughest of rock, and Weapon, whose blades of wind can slice even the mightiest of metal. I myself am strong, but at this stage, my power is not much stronger than it would be had I been one of the first. You see, our powers grow depending on how late we appear in situations like this, where only three can exist at once."

"I understand everything but that last sentence."

"I shall clarify for you. We are all linked by our connection to our creator Zero. From that link, we draw forth more of his power if we are protecting him from something, or simply standing as tests against someone. The order we appear in determines our strength. For example, right now I am the fourth guardian you face, which means I am the first of the second half. With that as the case my powers have doubled from their normal parameters. However this makes little difference seeing as since my element is that of Earth, which is primarily a defensive element for the most part, it does little in assisting. If one of the attacking elements, Wind or Fire were in my position, you'd be hard pressed to win. Water is a healing element, yet is supplemented by its secondary element of Ice, to be either an attacking or defending element as it wishes."

"What of Darkness and Light?"

"Those two are balanced elements, just the correct combination of attack, defense, and supplement. Their power gets increased by the position they appear in, but not by much, for they are quite powerful alone."

"I've noticed something, we seem to be going in some form of order…"

"Indeed. It is a form of balance that Zero created. We are tied to our opposites. If something were to happen to Chaos, Kira would be the first to sense it, same with Myself and Weapon, and Juri and Lucied. If one side falls in battle, the other side will grow stronger, due to the balance being broken. If all of us fall in battle, Zero's true strength is revealed, same as if he were to bring us back into himself."

"I see…you truly are a family."

"Yes, created in the image of balance, representing a different form of Zero's thoughts. Three Male, three Female; one of each element, tied to their opposites. All tied to him as the center. We all have our personalities, our differences, and our similarities."

"I wish we did not have to fight you all…"

"It is a requirement. As I said, we exist not only to protect him, but to test those who seek him. I do not have all the information right now…but something has happened to him that requires us to keep him safe. You may be registered as an ally, or even a potential love, but you would still have to fight either way."

"AURA!"

The white haired girl turned around. "Kaede? Zelkova?"

"Your allies have arrived. Now, we are matched, according to this world's rules."

"I've never seen that type of character before…"

"He is no character. He is…well, he'd be best classified as a Vagrant AI…a very powerful one."

"The battle of us shall commence. Prepare yourself Aura of the Twilight."

* * *

Yes you're all going to flay me alive, I know. I've been busy with work, driving practice…and the dreaded writer's block. I've finally figured out what I'm going to do though. I have the second to last chapter written out, and I want to post it baaaaad, but I cant. I have to wait. I know I was supposed to put an Omake here…but bloody freakin hell I cant think of one that would work best… 

A lot of my ideas have been frayed and ripped apart so I'm kinda blank, the next chapter should be out fairly soon though, considering I've got the battle in my head, I just need to check a few more things before I start it.

Yamimaru: oh it was a good one…the idea I had was gonna take the idea one of the workers in the chapter before last said and make it a new reason why Aura fell asleep for so long…

As for the changes, yeah, kinda like puberty…only not as extreme, and it wouldn't last anywhere near as long.


	10. Anubis

**Trials of a Goddess**

**Chapter VII: Anubis**

(Play Kingdom Hearts II Complete: Disappeared)

The sandstorm around them grew fiercer as Anubis raised his arms to the heavens. The ground beneath them rumbled as if something were struggling to escape from its grasp.

Aura looked around frantically, worried of what was to come. _Why a sandstorm? Why a desert? You'd think he'd pick a place filled with stone…_

Suddenly, pillars of sand rocketed into the sky. All three stared at the cloud of sand above them. _Oh hell no…_

Anubis brought his arms down, and vicious streams of sand flew towards the group. Aura pushed Kaede out of the way, and grabbed Zelkova, and leapt, just as a literally solid wall of sand slammed into the ground where they once stood. Aura pushed herself off of Zelkova, who happened to be blushing slightly. She slammed her palms into the ground beside him and pushed off, just as a wave of sand swiped in between the two, slicing through the air like a blade.

Kaede slipped around behind Anubis, planning to attack from behind. Aura spotted her, and played distraction. Aura charged at the Earthen warrior, only to be knocked back by a wall of sand that rose before her. She cut through it, only to have to roll to the side to avoid three spear-headed lances of sand.

The red-clad warrior leapt at Anubis' back…and slammed into a wall of sand that rose up behind him.

"What?!"

"You didn't really think I would leave myself exposed did you?"

He tensed his legs and flipped over Kaede, who was tossed forward when the sand wrapped around her waist and launched her into Aura. Zelkova rose into the air, preparing to use an attack.

"Reaper's-

"Desert Coffin."

The scythe flew out of Zelkova's hands as a torrent of sand engulfed and trapped him. Aura's eyes widened as something flashed in her mind.

"_Sabaku __**kyuu!"**_

_A gale of sand appeared out of nowhere and entrapped the shadowed creature. A black haired man raised his right arm, ripples of energy coming from his palm. As he did, so too did the bundle of sand raise._

"_Kore de…owari da."_

_The black haired man's eyes flashed yellow._

"_Sabaku __**Sousou!"**_

_He closed his fist rapidly, as if crushing a fly in his palm…and the sand bundle imploded, crushing the creature inside._

Reacting at inhuman speeds, she called up a well of data in her palm and flickered behind Anubis.

"Desert-

The wall of sand rose, seconds before she struck, but she ducked to the side, and slammed the now golden sphere of data into Anubis' arm.

"Earth…**Breaker!"**

There was a large explosion. When the dust and sand cleared, Aura was on her knees, a few feet away from Anubis, who was holding a stump, blinking rapidly. The clump of sand that had surrounded Zelkova fell apart, and Kaede quickly swept the boy into her arms, and out of the danger zone.

Anubis was confused. _How…does she know that attack? Considering the medium from which it came, along with the location we are, it's not __**that **__surprising…but to give no inclination she was aware of such a maneuver…and to use it so well…I didn't expect her to be able to pass my shield…interesting…_

Aura was pondering something along the same lines. _Holy hell in a hand grenade! How did I pull __**that **__off?! And what the hell was it?! "Earth Breaker?" I've never heard of such a thing! And yet…it came so easily…and how did I know what was going to happen? Where is all this knowledge coming from?!_

_What the__** hell **__is happening to me?_

Anubis shook his head. _No matter, it seems that I must take this more seriously._

Streams of sand flew to him, holding his missing arm. He used his left to attach it, and the sand bound the two together, seeping into his body. After a few moments, Anubis tested the arm. _Everything seems to be alright. Now…time to end this…_

"You have done well, Aura of Twilight…but it must end here."

He raised his arms again, and the sand beneath him stirred. It rocketed into the air around him like a tornado.

"Behold…my Quicksand in the style of a Waterfall…"

A gigantic wave of sand rose in front of Anubis.

"Whoa! I don't think we can survive that one!"

"And the sandstorm around us hasn't lessened in the slightest…from the looks of things…this will be the end of us…"

Aura got hit by another vision.

"_Ryuusa Bakuryuu!"_

_A humongous wave of sand rose in front of the man. It crashed upon the multiple shadowed figures. Underneath, the figures struggled to escape._

_The figure crouched, after giving a vindictive smirk._

"_Sabaku __**TAISO!"**_

_His last command echoed as he slammed his palms into the ground. A large ripple of energy erupted from beneath him. Moments later, a very loud crunching sound, as if something had snapped, or broken…or a bunch of things were crushed underneath a literal crust of sand…tore through the area. The figure stood back up and chuckled darkly._

Aura's eyes widened.

"No…"

The wave towered over them.

"Well Kaede…I'm not one to give up, but it really does look like there's no way out of this. It was fun."

"Yes…it was…Lord Zelkova."

Aura screamed. "**I WISH WE WERE SOMWHERE AWAY FROM ALL THIS GOD DAMN **_**SAND**_**!"**

**Ding…**

(Stop song.)

The sand wave froze. Actually…everything froze. The area flickered and faded like a bad television's reception. There was a brilliant flash of white…

**

* * *

**

**Aura's Room…**

"Look, I'm telling you I don't fucking know where she we-

**Ding…**

A flash of light and Aura, Zelkova, Kaede…and Anubis appeared.

"See? There she is!"

"Wh-where are we?"

"Where did all the sand go?"

"We…are…in my…room…"

It dawned on her. She was looking at the group of PCs that had gathered…when she smiled. A very VERY scary looking smile.

_How…did we get here?_

"We're in my room…where there is no sand…"

Anubis blinked. _Oh shit…_

(Play X: Kamui – Dialogue Mix.)

"My room, which has no sand and that holds all my memories…"

_Why do I have the feeling I'm boned?_

Aura's disturbing smile turned into a disturbing smirk. Zefie took an involuntary step back from her mother.

Aura's head snapped to Anubis. "It's not over yet."

Zelkova and the others blinked…and she was gone.

_Fuck ME! She's fucking __**fast!**_

Aura slammed into the spear that appeared in his hands. _Tch, forgot he had that. _Anubis looked up at her and blinked. _Her eyes…they're…purple?_

Aura flickered and vanished again. Anubis swung his spear to meet the sword that suddenly appeared in her hands. His eyes narrowed. _That…looks suspiciously like the Tenken…_

Aura glared at him and vanished again. _And THAT looks like the Shukuchi! Where the HELL is this girl getting all this from?!_

Kaede began whispering something to Zelkova, who nodded and smiled. Everyone else watched as the white haired blur would appear, strike, and then vanish again. Small pillars of dust would appear around Anubis just before each strike, but the time in between their appearance, and the actual strike would constantly vary.

Aura flipped over Anubis and swung, once again being blocked by his spear. _Dammit, he's good. _She ran behind him, ducked low and swung at his feet. He hopped over her swing and tried bringing his spear down on her head. She rolled to the left, evading it, and then ran to his right, swinging down. Anubis quickly brought his spear around in a spin, which caught Aura's blade and wrenched it out of her grasp.

Zelkova flicked out his fan-scythe and leapt into the air. He flicked his wrist and hurled the scythe at Anubis. The spinning blade slashed the Earth Guardian's back, causing him to falter. Kaede took the opening and delivered a series of lightning quick swings that Anubis barely blocked, before a black and white blur slammed into him. Aura stood, blade once again in hand, right in front of him.

(Play Zone of the Enders 2: Fake Aumaan)

Anubis chuckled. "You've done well, Aura of Twilight. But this battle is not yet over…"

A glowing red light shot from his chest. The wave of energy accompanying the light knocked Aura backward. Sparks of red electricity surged from the glowing orb. Dust swirled around the orb, being sucked into the core. The area rumbled as it turned into Avatar Space. Yellow rings of light surrounded the orb.

Aura twirled one of her fingers in the air, taking some spare data and turning it into a small pink ribbon. She pulled her hair back and tied it into a ponytail. _Damn hair was getting in my way…_

The orb slowly faded…and when it did, the majority of the group gasped in amazement.

Floating in front of them was, just like with Weapon, a human looking robot thing (Aura's thoughts). A white body covered in red, black and white armor. On its arms were four white plates that seemed to resemble blades. Its legs had reversed, like a chicken's. Like with Weapon, it had no feet, legs ending in pointed tips. Its head was replaced with the head of a Jackal. Glowing red eye ports stared at the world. Behind it were five giant armored…things. They looked like wings, but yet at the same time, there was no telling what they were.

Aura blinked in massive confusion.

Flicking around behind the armored being was a long, but very thin, black tail looking extension…and clutched in his right hand was a blood red spear.

"And now…my dear Aura of Twilight…the end…begins."

Anubis vanished in a ripple of air.

(Play Zone of the Enders 2 Complete: Boss – Anubis 1)

Immediately Aura's eyes widened in shock. _That was…_

Anubis reappeared not too far from the group, and his 'wings' seemed to open. From within, a series of blood red bolts of energy zigzagged their way to the group, who had a hard time dodging due to the sheer number of them. Aura put up a barrier to protect the three of them, but Anubis countered by warping in between the three of them, and spinning, using not only his spear, but his body as a weapon to knock them all away from one another.

He then took off after Kaede, deeming her the least of a threat, and the easiest to fall. He brought his spear down on her, but she blocked just in time with her blade. Zelkova and Aura had fallen back. Aura shook her head to clear it and saw Anubis floating around Kaede, seemingly toying with her. The two were clashing weapons fiercely. Neither was gaining ground…until Aura rushed in to back up Kaede, and Anubis twisted the elder woman's blade out of her grasp and grabbed her by the face, flinging her into Aura's path. He warped again, this time slightly above the two as they attempted to recover.

Zelkova ran to the two, to try to help, when Anubis crossed his arms causing a series of flickering discolored lights flash from his body. A strange looking energy bolt appeared in front of his body. He swung his arms away from himself and the bolt went flying, followed by a trail of scattering blood red particles of light, making it difficult to see. The energy bolt slammed into the ground between the three, once again sending them flying, but this time, kicking up a great deal of those particles.

Anubis warped again, this time in Aura's flight path. Before she could react, he slammed the blunt end of his spear into her stomach, knocking her to the ground. He followed up with another branching set of energy blasts. Kaede, who was closer to Aura than Zelkova, attempted to attack, but only hit air as just before her swing made contact, Anubis warped again. Another flicker of light, and the strange, winding energy bolt made its second appearance.

_Wait a minute…_ The bolt twisted its way to Aura and Kaede, the red particles obstructing Anubis from view slightly…but Zelkova saw it. _He's not moving…don't tell me…he can't move for a few moments after that attack? _The particle slammed into the ground, the two barely getting out of the way in time. Anubis immediately warped again. _That's it! He can't move while that bolt is! This might be our chance!_

Zelkova knew he wouldn't get the opportunity to tell the other two however. So he waited. He watched as Aura flipped out of the way of a thrust from Anubis, and parried a sideways swing…but when she went for her own attack…

"DAMMIT STOP WARPING!"

_He's not that fast outside of his warps…if I can find some way to use that…_

Another series of branching energy blasts. Aura knew she could block them easily, which she did. It did, however, open her up for Anubis to warp right in front of her, to which she smirked. As soon as Anubis' spear appeared in his hands, Kaede launched her attack from behind, scoring a few hits. The last however, missed as Anubis warped out of the danger zone. Another flicker of light…

_Now!_

The bolt launched itself from Anubis once again. Zelkova ran straight for it, hurling his scythe at it.

Anubis blinked as suddenly control over his motor functions returned to him. The bolt exploded prematurely. However, the explosion released the mass wave of particles, and blocked the blast area from view. Suddenly, the particles swirled as a form flew straight through them. Zelkova, covered in a wispy purple-white glow, slammed into Anubis…holding a completely black scythe.

Aura blinked. "Is that…Heine's Zero?! Where the hell did he get that from?!"

"Master Haseo gave it to him, after he attained his Lost Weapon's full power. He claimed it would make Lord Zelkova a tad more menacing if his opponents saw him holding a scythe as black as death itself…however Lord Zelkova only uses it in…special occasions."

"**Reaper's Dance!"**

The multiple spinning slashes, followed by the ending of the claw of dark energy slammed into the Earth Guardian, surprising, and greatly damaging him.

Zelkova went for another swing, but Anubis wisely warped away again. Irritated, the Earth Guardian summoned another of the winding bolts…only this time, instead of winding, this one launched straight at Aura and Kaede. The two dodged out of the way, and the bolt kicked up another wave of the particles. Anubis rapid-fired three more of them at the two, all were evaded, but now, visibility had been reduced to nearly zero.

"You have done well, Aura of Twilight…but now…it is over."

Unseen to any of the three, Anubis' 'wings' detached from their position behind him and floated in front of him like arms. The wings opened themselves, red light glowing fiercely. Anubis positioned his spear in the center of the almost star shaped formation. The red particles began flying to the tip. The wings began rotating around the spear's head. The group's vision cleared as nearly all the particles were sucked into the spinning objects. The red light flared.

_Awe crap._

The last particle got sucked inside…and moments later a gigantic beam of blood red energy ripped from the spear's head. At the last second, Aura put up a barrier…but she struggled to hold it.

_Crap, crap, crap, Crap, __**CRAP! **__Why the HELL didn't I see this coming?!_

The force of the impact knocked Zelkova and Kaede on their backs. However Zelkova got up first. He peeked his head out slightly, only to yelp and pull it back just as an errant bolt of energy flew past. He tried again and saw that Anubis was in that one position, firing. _If he can't move…then…_

"Kaede…do you still have that thing we picked up?"

The elder woman blinked…and then smirked as she realized Zelkova's plan.

Anubis was fatigued. _This girl…she is proving to be most powerful…she would make a wonderful mate for Him…not many can stave off my ultimate attack for this long…but still…holding this…I grow weary…_

A small blur caught his eye.

_What the hell?_

As he couldn't turn, he didn't see where the blur went. Unknown to him Zelkova had dashed behind him. The young boy leapt into the air, once again drawing forth Heine's Zero.

"It's Over!"

_Well shit._

Zelkova brought the scythe down on Anubis' back…and there was a flash of white light.

(end song)

The pressure on Aura's arms vanished as the light came. When everyone's vision cleared, Anubis was standing in his original form. A loud "DAMN!" came from the direction of the group watching, and Aura giggled as she realized exactly who made those exclamations. _Though hearing Endrance say it was rather surprising…_

Anubis dropped to his knees, panting.

"It would seem that you are the victors."

"It would wouldn't it?"

"Very well…my power is yours. However…be warned…remember the colors…not all is as it seems…"

With those last cryptic words…he vanished, turning into the golden yellow Ideya of Hope. The crystal flew into Zelkova, recognizing him as its master.

"What the hell was that supposed to mean?"

"I dunno Haseo…but I do know I could go for some ice cream." Just as Aura said that…she blinked as the ringing noise went through the area…and took a large step to the left as a giant tub of ice cream dropped from the sky. She looked up.

"You missed." **THWACK! **Her head lurched forward as a cold substance slammed into it. She whirled around to see Bordeaux's hands covered in ice cream. Her eyes narrowed.

"Oh it is _**SO **_on!"

And with that…Aura's room became a battlefield of food as the three AI chose their groups and summoned their ammunition. It was a well deserved game…for the next two battles would be the most taxing upon them…

* * *

(play .hack GU: No More Shallow Dreams – Theme of Aina)

"Hey…Aina…do you think our brothers would like each other?"

"Of course! From what you've told me, it sounds like they'd be idiots not to!"

Arietta giggled. "Yeah, and if they didn't, we'd just have to knock some sense into them wouldn't we?"

"Exactly!"

The two giggled at the thought, sitting on the pedestal that once housed Aura's statue. Aina hopped off.

"Well, we've still got a couple more of those things left."

"Um…Aina?"

"What?"

"After we're done…can I…can I see the stone you were talking about?"

Aina thought for a moment. "Hmm…I don't see why not. Who knows, maybe it'll have a clue about your brother!"

"I doubt it…but…it'd be nice to see the monument to the person who helped change your life…and…I'd like to meet your friends."

"I'm sure they'll like you Arietta. Alright, lets go!"

Arietta nodded, and ran over to the other girl. The two clasped hands, and left the chapel, chatting amiably.

Unknown to either of them…a blood red eye slammed open behind them, narrowing as the two left. It watched for a few moments…and then vanished as mysteriously as it came…but if anyone else were to be around when it appeared…they'd have seen something horrible…

The faint outline…of a bubbling black mass…

* * *

(Sighs) So lonely…feels like nobody's reading anymore…ehh, with it being the beginning of the 'year' school, plus work, plus a bunch of other factors…I'm not surprised. Oh well…maybe this'll remind people I'm still around…

Anyway, I've got the general idea of how the next chapter will go…I just need to find out a biiit more about Tabby…since she's going to be in the next fight. After that…smooth sailing for me.

Kinda strange…not having anyone to answer…oh well…maybe next time…


	11. Lucied

**Trials of a Goddess**

**Chapter VIII: Lucied; Guardian of Desire**

"Welcome! To the Sage Palace Tournament Title Match! In this battle the previous emperor, Team Haseo has been challenged by a single player who has steamrolled her way to victory! And here they are! First the Emperor! TEAM HASEO!"

The crowd roared in cheers as Haseo, Shino and Tabby warped onto one of the pillars. Tabby gave an energetic wave to the crowd before the three were pulled into the second warp, this one to the battlefield.

"With me once again is the leader of the long since disbanded Twilight Brigade, OVAN! Tell me Mr. Ovan, am I seeing things, or does this look like a gathering of the old Twilight Brigade members?"

"Your sight is correct my friend. Tabby and Shino requested to join Haseo in this battle, for old time's sake. The three of them, specifically Haseo and Tabby, have grown much stronger since the last time they were gathered together…and this battle will prove to show that even in death, the Twilight Brigade lives on."

"Well said Mr. Ovan. And now, here comes the challenger! She, who literally blasted her way through the rankings in no time flat, the one woman army, LUCIED!"

Those who knew…their eyes widened in shock.

The blue light cleared as the fighter entered the battle field. The tall woman stared at her opponents. Her long flowing dark violet hair cascaded down her back. She wore a black, skin tight leather bodysuit that left little to the imagination. Dark purple eyes stared at her targets as her beautiful milky white skin showed a dark smirk.

"You…you're…"

The smirk widened. The entire area began rumbling. Everyone frantically looked around as a giant black shadow erupted from the center of the arena stage. Gasps of fright and amazement rang through the stadium as the pillar of darkness was shattered by a glowing light. Floating above the arena was…

"The Fifth Ideya…"

"So, you are the ones who seek the powers of the Ideya…I had a feeling that I would encounter you if I joined this little tournament."

"I should have known…the winner of the tournament being a one person party would require either a hack, or a serious amount of power…and you…basically count as both."

"I must say, this world _is _quite interesting. It's perfect for my master…"

"Your master…we're trying to awaken him. Why do you guardians stand in our way?"

"What you are going to do, and what you are attempting to do, are two entirely different things. We exist to protect him. No more, no less. If you want that Crystal…you will of course have to battle me. The question is…is your Desire strong enough?"

(BGM: Guilty Gear X: Still in the Dark)

She got into a battle stance. "Come. Show me your deepest Desire. I shall judge if you are worthy of this power or not!"

Haseo drew his dual guns, as Tabby readied her paw gauntlets and Shino pulled out her staff. The battle begun with Haseo opening fire on the Dark Guardian. She stood there and gave him a 'come on' look and the bullets bounced off a sphere of black.

"What the…"

"Guns? Hmph, my master detests those weapons…as such; he has given us all immunities to them. If one is used, it is useless…but no matter, it makes things easier for me!"

Before Haseo could react, Lucied had appeared in front of him and delivered a solid punch to his face. She followed up by pivoting on her right leg, and slamming her left heel into the side of his head, knocking him away. She back flipped as Tabby went for a swipe to Lucied's face. The violet haired beauty slammed her foot into the cat-girl's chin, knocking Tabby off balance. Lucied then backhanded Tabby to the side. She heard the sound of a spell being charged; and responded in kind. Both She and Shino called out at the same time.

"LEI ZAS!"

Twin walls of light propelled by multi-colored strands rocketed from Shino's staff and Lucied's palm. The two spells slammed into each other and cancelled out.

"What?"

"Confused? I'll humor you. Our master dictated that whosoever should be of the last two guardians to awaken shall be granted equal power over their own, and their opposite elements. That is the reason why I am always one of the last."

"HAA!"

Lucied deftly shifted to the side as Haseo came down with his broadsword. The attack missed and Lucied capitalized on the momentary delay between attacks to deliver a spinning kick to the back of Haseo's head, sending him over his own sword and onto his back. A flash of light shined from out of the corner of her eye as Tabby intoned a skill. The cat-girl raced for the Guardian of Desire…but it was for naught.

_**Hangeki!**_

Following the rules of the arena, Lucied intoned her own technique and countered Tabby. She knocked the younger girl's paw aside and slammed her fist into the cat-girl's stomach. A small pulse of dark energy erupted from behind the younger girl and Lucied pulled back. Her right fist glowed black and she slammed it into Tabby's chest, a ghostly black image of a wolf's head erupting from behind the girl.

"**Howling Wave!"**

Tabby went flying back, slamming into the wall of the arena. Haseo slipped in behind Lucied and swung his scythe at her. Surprised she was struck, which opened her up to another attack. Taking advantage of the opening Shino incanted another spell, this time one that conjured a pillar of freezing cold water to erupt beneath Lucied. Stunned by the spell and trapped by Haseo's charge wave, Lucied was open for Tabby to jump in and start pummeling her.

The cat-girl landed many a good hit on the Dark Guardian, before the familiar rings appeared surrounding the woman. Not giving any time for a break, Tabby slipped into a skill and attacked.

_**Rengeki!**_

"**Rapid Attack!"**

The cat-girl delivered a series of lightning quick strikes, ending with a powerful fist into Lucied's chest, knocking her away and into the far wall of the arena.

"Nice job Tabby!"

She blushed and nodded her thanks.

"Not bad kitty…not bad at all…" Lucied shook her head to clear it as she slowly stood. "Alright…your Desire has merits…but is it strong enough to overcome my own?!"

(BGM: Okami: Ushiwaka's Dance – Playing with Ushiwaka)

A powerful black glow overcame the long haired maiden. The glow solidified into a sphere which flared with glowing red symbols. The sphere exploded to reveal a large black wolf. The wolf raised its maw and howled to the heavens. The howl summoned forth a wave of black that engulfed the stadium changing it to a moonlit plain. The wolf shuddered and slowly, starting from its snout, glowing red strands of energy streaked their way all around its body, forming into strange but elegant looking patterns. Above its back, the moonlight gathered and formed into a glowing red disk, surrounded by streaming silver light. It opened its eyes and violet orbs glared at the group.

"**Now you face my true form. Prepare yourselves!"**

The wolf snarled at the group and then raced for them. Haseo brought out his twin blades in preparation. The wolf raced at Haseo, who swung, only to hit air as the wolf vanished from sight, appearing behind Tabby, and slamming headfirst into her back.

"Lei Zas!"

Shino slashed her staff and a wave of light rocketed towards the wolf. However, Lucied leapt away from the blast as it slammed into the ground just next to Tabby. Shino winced as she realized how close she came to hitting her own teammate. Unfortunately she had no time to lament as Lucied was racing for her next. Haseo noticed her pathway and chose his own skill. Sticking with his twin blades he slowly rose into the air, a wispy purple aura around him. He rocketed towards Lucied blades at the ready…only she was prepared.

"**Obsidian Lance…"**

A black void gathered around Lucied's body forming into a sphere. Haseo, not hearing the name of the attack thought that he would just bounce off…but what happened surprised everyone. The sphere rippled and suddenly jagged spears of black energy shot out from the void in all directions. Haseo, being so close was hit by a great many of them. His attack was cancelled, his body repeatedly pierced by the attack, thrown backwards painfully.

Unfortunately for the others, they too were hit by the attack, however since the lances spread out from Lucied's position, they were able to minimize the amount of damage they took. The sphere receded into the red disc, and Lucied continued her original assault. This time however, Shino was a bit more prepared.

"Lei Zas!"

She fired spell after spell, slowly keeping Lucied at bay, forcing the wolf to constantly shift direction, albeit only for a brief moment. Lucied quickly recovered her lost ground and leapt to the air.

"**Purple Electric!"**

Violet electricity raced around Lucied's body. It gathered at random points and then arced its way to Shino. She tried to block the attack but it slipped past her guard and she gave a scream in pain as her body was assaulted by the powerful volts.

Lucied broke off the attack as a shot flew past her. Haseo had pulled back out his dual guns and fired to stop her attack. _Interesting…he chose to risk the shot being repelled to save his ally…_

Lucied landed and tensed her muscles. Suddenly a wall of black shot from her body and slammed into Shino, knocking the girl into the boundary of the arena.

Tabby was kneeling on the ground, panting, as she watched the proceedings.

_Show her our Desire? But…how? Isn't fighting her enough? What if…our Desire…has nothing to do with the battle…the battle's just a distraction…Desire…I know…I know I wanted to help Haseo save Shino. But he did that himself…just like he said he would. But…I can still help him…I want to help him…and he wants to beat that thing…and if that's what he wants, then that's what I want! My wish…my _Desire_ is to help Haseo win!_

For a brief moment, the Crystal flashed.

Tabby rose from her position. She watched as Haseo barely blocked Lucied's lightning fast strikes. Realizing she'd been forgotten she gave a small smile and hugged the outer rim of the arena, attempting to stay out of sight. Little did she know, she was hidden by a faint black shadow. Silently she watched as Lucied was once again repelled by Haseo's defense. The wolf hopped backward out of the way of the counter attack. Lucied dashed at Haseo again…and that was when Tabby made her move. Placing her body along the ground, tensing her leg muscles, putting her paw glove covered hands on the ground as well, she reared back.

_Mind like a cat. Mind like a cat. Mind like a cat…_

Unknown to her, her ears flattened on her head and her ponytail began flicking around wildly. She pulled back and then raced forward on all fours, moving at a speed that surprised all who were watching. She slammed into Lucied just before the wolf reached Haseo. Lucied gave a small yelp in pain and surprise as she and Tabby went flying. Lucied quickly recovered and growled at her attacker, noticing the faint black outline around the cat-girl.

_I see…so there _is _one with Desire enough to match my own…_

Lucied hopped back, evading a swipe from Tabby's paw. She curled her body into a ball as she flipped away and landed a good distance from either of them. Shino began to rise, holding her head.

"**Very well…it would seem time to end this battle…"**

Lucied spread her paws along the ground, lowering her body as she growled at the group. The red disk began spinning, gathering in the moonlight. Black sparks of electricity began lancing from the bottom of the disk onto Lucied's body.

_Oh no you don't!_

Lucied leapt into the air, a glowing black orb gathering at her snout. Tabby raced to the arena wall.

Lucied reared back her head, the energy flaring.

Tabby ran UP the invisible wall, and then propelled herself off, rocketing towards Lucied.

The wolf pulled back a tad bit more, the gathered energy becoming a shining black light. Tabby pulled her right paw back. Lucied slammed her head down releasing the blast, just as Tabby slammed her paw towards Lucied's mouth. There was a brilliant flash of light, followed by an explosion.

The arena suddenly shifted back to its normal state. Tabby slammed into the ground. Lucied fell as well, landing in human form.

Tabby groaned and slowly got up, helped by Haseo and Shino.

"Not bad kitty-cat."

Lucied got up easily. Tabby panted heavily; sweat clinging to her body, eyes drooping from exhaustion.

"It would seem that you do have a great Desire…" The glowing black crystal floated down in front of Tabby, and then slammed into her body. Wisps of black energy surrounded her for a few moments.

"Perhaps…you can handle what is to come after all…"

She turned away as her body started segmenting into black specks of light. Lucied gave one last smirk to Tabby.

"See you around…Kitty."

Her body burst into black particles which vanished into the air.

For a few moments everything was silent. Suddenly the crowd roared. "I-I don't understand what just happened, but it looks like the winners are Team Haseo!"

The crowd's volume intensified. Haseo looked at Tabby. "Wow Tabby…I didn't know you could do all that."

She flushed slightly. "I told you…I'd help you in whatever way I could."

"I'm impressed Tabby…it looks like everyone's changed while I was asleep."

"You did pretty good too Shino."

The grey haired girl shook her head. "Not really, I barely landed a hit on her, and I was the first to be knocked out…"

"Considering what we were up against, it's proof of your strength that you weren't knocked into another coma."

Shino paled. "You're…kidding right?"

"No…the Guardians…they have power on the scale of Ovan's sealed arm…actually more than that."

"Scaaary."

"I'll say. Well, we should head back now…"

* * *

"Well, that's the last one! Thanks a lot Arietta!"

"You're welcome…umm…Aina?"

"What is it?"

"Do you…think I can see that stone you were talking about?"

"Well…I did promise to take you after we finished…so, sure!"

"Really?"

"Of course. Besides, I want you to meet my brother! He might be able to help you find yours!"

"That would be…nice…"

"Well, come on!"

**

* * *

**

**Theta: Restoring Lovers Dream**

Everyone had gathered. Aura congratulated Haseo, Shino and Tabby on their success not only in the arena match, but in finding and liberating one of the Ideya Crystals.

"There's just one more to go everyone!"

The others cheered. Suddenly a flare of blue light surprised everyone. The orbs that accompanied a PC's warp appeared at the outer edge.

The first to be revealed was a blue haired little girl.

"Aina!"

The second was a pink haired girl, clad in a black dress. The two walked to the group.

"Everyone! I want you to meet…huh? Arietta? What's wrong?"

The pink haired girl had gone rigid. Her bright red eyes widened as she looked at the monument. She slowly walked to it and placed a hand on its surface.

"Onii…chan…"

(BGM: Kingdom Hearts II: Roxas)

A brilliant white glow surrounded Arietta. The glow became a blinding light. Everyone covered their eyes…and when the light cleared…a shining white crystal was hovering behind the pink haired girl.

Aina gasped.

"Arietta…you…"

"So you…are the ones…who seek my brother…"

The girl turned around, her body still glowing white.

"The Sixth Guardian…Juri…the Holy Bearer of Purity…"

Aina dropped to her knees. "No…"

The Crystal hovered into the air above the stone. Arietta began approaching Aina, but some of the group blocked her path. She narrowed her eyes at them and waved her hand. As she did so, a flare of light slammed into those standing in her way and knocked them aside. She continued and then knelt in front of Aina.

"Aina…thank you…you helped me find my brother just like you promised…"

"Why?! Why you?! You were my friend! Why did this have to happen?!"

"I'm sorry Aina…I too wish it were different…"

Aina just shuddered.

Arietta rose and started walking back.

"I assume someone is going to challenge me for my crystal?"

Aura spoke. "I wi-

"I'll do it."

Everyone turned to Aina.

"But, Aina-

"I'll fight you. Alone."

Juri looked at the girl and nodded.

"Aina!" Ovan tried to argue. "You don't have to do this!"

"I'll fight you…because you're my best friend."

Juri smiled sadly. "I wish it didn't have to be this way…"

"So do I…but if there was one thing I learned by hanging around Haseo-nii, and Xenmaru-nii…it's that sometimes you have to do the stuff that hurts you."

Juri called forth her weapon. A small pink rod with a six pointed star at the top, surrounded by a circle with white wings on the side.

"Well said…then…as friends…let us fight. Show me what my brother has taught you, Aina!"

* * *

Long wait huh? There's a reason why it seems like it went from the Anubis fight straight to Lucied without there being anything happening in between. That's cause nothing happened. Shino and Tabby joined Haseo as a homage to what I plan to do when I get Tabby in my Vol. 3 file: Have the Twilight Brigade storm the arena.

Trust me, it was difficult getting this chapter out. I kept getting images for the last few chapters, and the Aina vs. Juri fight. That one is gonna be epic by the way. Oh and yes, there's a reason why Juri's theme kept going back to Roxas'. Perhaps someone will figure it out, assuming anyone still reads this.

To answer both Sister of Kyuubi and Yamimaru at the same time:

Think about it logically. Anubis is in loose translation the Egyptian god of death and passage. Egypt is a freaking DESERT. Sand _is _of the Earth element, in most forms of media. Not to mention Gaara is freaking badass. To be completely honest though, this incarnation of Anubis was meant to symbolize an earth version of the Egyptian God. If I were to make Anubis based off the REAL Anubis, he'd have ended up as the dark guardian…and though I had thought of switching the two…it seemed more fitting to keep him as the Earth.

But really look at him. Gaara can make sand from the ground beneath him. Anubis didn't. In fact, outside of the Desert area, he was pretty helpless until his second form. As for the attack names…well come on. Gaara's moves are awesome, and pretty fitting. Plus, it's only 2017, Naruto would have still been in the minds of some people anyway…so for a persona to be given the power of earth and control over all that involves the earth element to be using sand as a powerful weapon…not too unexpected.

Sister of Kyuubi: Well, technically Aura is a growing teenager now, so seeing a built shirtless man in front of her…well…the reaction is expected.

Yamimaru: Ahh, don't worry about it…just started wondering is all. And Aura's powers being wild did help. They WERE reacting to her intents…so…basically whenever she wished for something to happen, it would.

Well…we're entering the final stretch. There's only a few chapters left, and all of them are fighting…though at the end of the next one…an unexpected twist…

Stay tuned! This is where it gets good!


	12. Juri

**Trials of a Goddess**

**Chapter IX: Light of Purity**

(BGM: Kingdom Hearts II: Roxas)

"Negative Gate!"

The battle began in fever. A giant mass of dark energy erupted where Aina once stood, the blue haired girl vacating moments before. Her book opened and the pages began to flutter.

"OrLei Zas!"

A massive wave of light energy erupted from the book and rocketed towards the Light Guardian, who tossed what looked like a card in front of her and slammed her rod upon it.

"Shield!"

The wave of light impacted on a transparent dome emanating from what looked like a large white feather in the shape of a shield. The effect only lasted a moment, but immediately after, Juri twirled her rod and fired a massive lance of ice at Aina. The girl retaliated by summoning a giant boulder to smash into the lance. However, the Light Guardian motioned with her free hand and the shattered ice spread out, sharpening and surrounding Aina.

Aina threw her book at her feet and incanted. "Zan Rom!"

A twister appeared underneath the white clad girl and levitated her into the air just as the hundreds of icicles slammed into where she once stood. She flipped as the book flew back to its position in front of her. Focusing on a single spell she slammed her palm down onto the book and a series of massive fireballs flew from its pages careening towards the Light Guardian.

Juri retaliated by jabbing her rod at the ground.

"Suiton: Suijin Heki!"

A pillar of water engulfed the girl, acting as a barrier between her and the flame. Within the protective wall, she jammed her rod towards where she remembered Aina to be and a spear of water flew from the protective wall and shot towards the younger girl. Aina let herself drop and the attack flew right over her head. She landed and opened the book again.

Juri's water barrier faded and she was surprised to see a large black mass of dark energy rocketing towards her. Calling forth her own personal element she flicked her rod at the void and a wall of light slammed into it, causing a massive explosion of light and dark energy that knocked both combatants backwards.

The others stood surprised at the magic being used in the battle.

"Holy shit! Aura, what the hell was in that book?!"

"A collection of all the forms of magic I could find gathered from the net. But…I'm just as surprised as you are…I didn't think Aina would be able to do _this _well…"

Juri laughed. But what surprised everyone was that it was an actual laugh of joy.

"I haven't been tied in a long time…good job Aina, I didn't think you'd be this skilled."

Further surprising the group, the aqua haired girl smiled back.

"I can't take all the credit…this book…Aura-nee-chan gave it to me. She said it was a relic from the old days of The World, where the objects people wore had the magic sealed within them, rather than people knowing the spells on their own."

"That may be, but you are the one behind the book, directing it's power. You deserve at least _some _credit."

"You're pretty good yourself Arietta." Aina refused to call Juri by any other name. To her, she was Arietta, her best friend, first. "That card…what was that?"

"Something Onii-chan gave to me as part of my power. He said, and I quote: 'You fit the Magical Girl stereotype so well it's only logical you can use some of it to your advantage!'"

The two laughed.

"It looks like this battle won't be decided by our magical prowess…at least not mine. I have to take it up a notch…I'm sorry Aina…but I can't let you win."

The light guardian banished her staff and placed her hands over her heart, as if in prayer. Her body flared with a blinding light. Everyone was forced to cover their eyes. When the light cleared…everyone gasped.

The grassy clearing vanished. Now, Aina and Juri were standing on a large circular platform that looked like it was made out of stained glass. An image rested in the center of the platform. It was the sign of Chaos, surrounded by the symbols representing the six elements. Aina looked up and gasped again. In front of her, Juri had changed. Now, her outfit resembled a Japanese school uniform. The skirt was black, the top white with strange pink patterns on it. Her hair had gained random strands of black in it. But what was most shocking, were the two sets of three points of light, pink, that flowed from her back like wings.

(BGM: Kingdom Hearts II Complete – The Other Promise)

In her hands she held two weapons. They both looked like giant keys, only one looked far more sword-like than the other. She held up her right hand.

"This, is Serenity."

The weapon looked like a key jammed onto a circular hilt. The circular hilt itself was a brilliant gold. A pink bar inside the circle served as where Juri's hand held the weapon. Ten glowing orange-red points surrounded the outside of the circle, making it look like the sun. The "blade" portion of the strange weapon that resembled an elaborate key, was golden as well, with many ridges.

A short chain beginning from the bottom of the circle led to what looked like Half of the Chaos sign. Three triangles sticking from the flat areas of a center, upside down triangle.

"And this…is Decadence." Here she held up her left.

The weapon's hilt was a square, with the edges rounded inside. A red bar was inside the square, held by Juri's hand. The blade looked like the blade of a broadsword, with five jagged points on the top portion, colored midnight black. The chain for this one lead to the other half of the Chaos sign; an upside down triangle encaged in a circle, with three triangles coming from the tips. It resembled a Hazard sign.

Aura's eyes widened. "Keyblades…" The group was confused.

"It's from…an old video game that was a bridge between two large media companies of the time. Squaresoft, and Disney. The main character had a weapon that was basically a giant old fashioned key. I guess…Zero must have played it somehow…"

Tsukasa commented. "Sounds like this kid had quite the imagination…"

Aura blankly responded. "It would seem that way…"

"One of Light and one of Dark…to show the link between the two…Xenmaru-nii…"

Aina looked down…but then her confidence returned.

"I'm not beaten yet! Bring it on Arietta!"

And it was brought. Arietta slowly floated down to the ground, until the tips of her toes were touching the floor. The girl's pink wings fluttered fiercely, and suddenly she became a glowing point of light that rocketed towards Aina. The blue haired girl jumped back, but Arietta had crossed her keyblades in front of her, both of them glowing. She swung her arms outward and a wave of both dark and light energy shot from her position, slamming into Aina and knocking her backward.

Arietta leapt into the air and then curled her body into a ball, spinning like a saw. The two blades became streaks of light as she fell towards Aina. The other girl leapt to the side, narrowly evading the spinning death that was Arietta. Aina launched a wave of flame at the pink haired girl. Arietta was engulfed by the strange light again and sped out of the way of the flame, appearing behind Aina. The aqua haired girl turned to meet the pink haired maiden, only to have a foot slam into her face knocking her backward.

Arietta followed up by launching herself at Aina, bringing her right weapon down on her first, slamming it into the girl's side, before bringing her left blade, held backwards, up into Aina's chin, knocking her into the air. Arietta spun with her movement and became a glowing whirl of spinning blades as she repeatedly attacked Aina like a tornado. After a few moments, Arietta flipped over and planted both feet into Aina's chest, kicking her down to the ground. Aina slammed into the ground hard and called out in pain. She opened her eyes to see Arietta hurling both keyblades at her like a pair of chakram.

_No! I…I can't lose here! I have to bring back Xenmaru-nii!_

She closed her eyes and re-opened them. To her, the world was moving in slow motion. She watched the rotation of the spinning blades, gauging exactly where the would be in the next few seconds.

What happened surprised everyone, Juri especially.

Aina reached out with both hands, and just before the blades impacted…grabbed them by the hilts. The maneuver pushed her back into the ground however, due to the recoil from the force of which they slammed into her hands. She flung her legs into the air, flipping herself onto her feet as Arietta touched the ground, shocked. Aina wasted no time in charging the pink haired girl. She swung the left blade down diagonally from left to right across Arietta's chest. Moving with the momentum from that, she pivoted on her heel and slammed the right weapon into the side of the girl's face, followed by a double spin slash that turned into a multiple spinning repeating slashing motion as the blades flew out of her hands and began circling her whirling form.

Aina stopped spinning, slightly dizzy. Arietta, a scowl on her face slipped behind the girl and grabbed her weapons back, surprising Aina. Six beams of light, coming down from six unusual cross shaped symbols floating above them formed a sort of cage around the two. Aina was trapped and could do nothing as Arietta slammed both blades in an X shape into her back, knocking her away. It would seem that she did some major damage in that attack, because Arietta was summoning lances of light with every swing now.

Aina whipped open her book and called out a spell. A barrier of pure energy surrounded her as the beams of light flew across the strange field. Arietta slammed her weapons into the barrier, repeatedly attacking it as Aina winced from each impact, the strain of keeping such a powerful defense up pulling at her. Arietta scowled deeper and flew backward. She jammed her weapons into the ground and started motioning.

"Fragment of Light, rain down upon my enemies and bring forth Eternal Penance!"

A holy symbol of power appeared underneath Aina, radiating a brilliant sky blue light. Rings of energy surrounded Arietta as she called out the name of her attack.

"**Divine Judgment!"**

Multiple beams of light shot down from the heavens and slammed into Aina's barrier repeatedly. With each beam a small part of the glyph began to glow…until finally the whole thing surged with power, firing multiple waves of light energy into the air…and shattering Aina's defense.

"AINA!"

Immediately, Arietta grabbed her blades and rocketed towards the stumbling girl. The pink haired angel crossed her blades and brought them down on the girl. Aina closed her eyes in fear just as Arietta attacked.

And the world went white.

"What…is this?"

Juri held her blades across from her body, a transparent white sphere of energy surrounding her, protecting her from the waves of force resonating from the strange field that surrounded Aina. After a few moments, the light faded and Aina dropped to the ground in her transformed state.

_Such power! I've never seen anyone other than onii-chan with power of this level!_

"Aina…that power…how…no, _where _did it come from?"

The younger girl looked up, eyes red and filled with sadness.

"It was a gift…"

"A gift?"

"…from your brother."

Juri's mouth opened at that. She shook her head and stood up straight.

"I see. Then if that's the case…I have no chance against you in this form…"

She dropped her weapons, both vanishing in sparkles of light and darkness.

"I must say…I didn't expect this to be so difficult. Not to insult your strength or anything Aina…but…my brother, we were all given such amounts of power…I didn't believe anything could exist that was strong enough to defeat us…"

(BGM: Tales of Symphonia – Final Destination)

Her body began giving off a solid white glow.

"Honestly…I thought you'd have all been stopped by at least Weapon…it looks like we've underestimated you...I've underestimated you."

The white glow began to seep into the stained glass, slowly streaking around the area until everything was engulfed in its light and the only things visible were the people themselves.

"And now, I'm faced with a fragment of my brother's power, wielded by a mortal girl…it's strange how similar this feels to how I started off…"

The glow became a sphere of light that surrounded her and lifted her into the air.

The white light that covered the area turned into a glowing realm of light gold and silver clouds. Aina and Juri's glowing sphere were upon a single slab of ground that looked like it was ripped from the lands below and tossed into the air.

The sphere pulled away, revealing beautiful feathered white wings flowing from her back, her dress changing into a jeweled white robe. Long blonde hair cascaded down her back as her eyes changed from their original crimson color to a bright blue. In her left hand rested a double edged glowing white spear, and in her right a silver, winged broadsword.

"I can't stop here. This ends now Aina!"

Immediately, the winged being rocketed down from the sky and swung her blade towards Aina. The transformed girl brought up her arms up in a block, a black long-sword appearing in her hands, defending the blow. Juri brought her spear around in an overhead motion. Aina deftly shifted to the side and brought her right leg up and slammed it in the back of the angelic being's head. She quickly hopped away afterward.

Juri growled and launched her spear at Aina, who quickly rolled out of the way, only to whirl around as a flash of light behind her alerted the girl to a follow up. The spear flared with light and then fragmented into hundreds of smaller lances of energy. They all rocketed toward the girl.

"Shimatta!"

She threw up a wall of energy to try to defend against the multitude of energy projectiles racing towards her. It succeeded but as soon as the attack ended, she was knocked in the back by Juri's form slamming into her. The blonde girl flew up into the air and turned around, readying for a second rush. She pulled her blade back and swung as she reached Aina, who brought up her own weapon in defense. The grounded girl slipped under the angelic girl and rolled away. She leapt into the air and swung her arm down at the winged girl.

"Meteor Swarm!"

A spatial rift opened up behind the girl. Hundreds of glowing flaming balls of rock flew down from the opening. Juri was forced to fly backwards to avoid the first few, and then forcefully flap left and right to evade the next set. In the middle of all the dodging, she began weaving her way to the younger girl. In her free hand formed the spear, which she launched at Aina once again. This time the spear only turned into five slightly smaller lances.

The attack ended, Aina quickly let herself drop from the sky, evading the first lance. She twisted her body and slammed her sword into the second lance, turning that movement into a mid-air cartwheel to barely dodge the third. The fourth however, caught her off guard, which opened her up to get hit by the fifth and slammed into the ground from the force. Juri was suddenly surrounded by a white glow as a multitude of ghostly feathers surrounded her body.

"O blades of holy power, slice through my enemies as you rain from Heaven to Earth!"

The energy swirled around her and then dissipated.

"Prisim Sword!"

A series of flashes appeared in the sky above Aina. She shakily stood up to see something tearing its way down to her. She jumped away just in time to avoid a small glyph appearing where she was once standing. Six broadswords of prismatic light slammed down around the edges of the glyph, and a seventh much larger sword smashed into the center. The whole thing immediately detonated in a small flare of light energy afterwards.

_Damn, I missed._

_Mou! That was too close! But…it looks like she's getting desperate…_

Aina had no more time to think however, because in a flicker of light, Juri had appeared in front of her. She brought her blade up to try to cut Aina down from below and was blocked. Aina brought her own blade in a horizontal slash, which was met by Juri's. Finally, in a surge of power, Juri slammed her blade into Aina's once again from an underhand slash and sent Aina's blade flying.

_Now!_

In a flash of light, she banished her blade and summoned a holy glyph underneath her. Hundreds of glowing white feathers surrounded the two as the glyphs sudden appearance surprised Aina.

A series of glowing transparent white chains spiraled inward towards the center of the glyph, each 'ring' they passed by sending out a small wave of holy energy that hurt Aina, as well as pushed her towards the center.

"May these holy chains entangle thy soul and purify those within their grasp!"

Juri placed her hands on her chest as her wings all pulled back. The chains flared with light as the entire glyph erupted in massive blaze of holy energy.

"**SHINING BIND!"**

A final pulse from the glyph knocked Aina away, the girl horribly weakened and groaning in pain. Juri floated over to the girl and drew back her blade.

"I'm sorry Aina…but…it looks like…you lose."

Aina's right arm twitched.

Juri lunged forward.

(BGM End)

Juri froze. "I…wh-what?"

She looked down at her chest…where a glowing black sword was sticking out. She looked to Aina…and the world flared white again.

* * *

I wonder what happened? It looks like Aina won…but…

Alright, this chapter was basically one big battle. The next one will probably come out either later tonight, or sometime in the next couple days. It'll be short, but PACKED with insanity. And by insanity I mean OMGWTF moments. We're entering the final stretch. After the next chapter, it's all fighting until the last one. I wanted to put the next chapter's events in this one…but I thought this would be a good place to stop for now. Don't worry though, this is where the good stuff starts.

Arcon1: Thanks, glad you liked it.

Anonymous: G-greatest fanfictions you've ever read? I…guh…thanks! I personally wouldn't go as far as to say that they're the greatest…and I'm the one who writes them! But…hey, if you think that they're that good…well…thanks. Still…I know there are better ones than mine. Hell, check out anything done by Daneel Rush, or Foxie-sama…or hell anyone on my favorite author's list. Now THOSE are fecking insane!

Sister of Kyuubi: Yeah, I did only touch base on the whole Haseo is Sora thing, but it's there. It's kinda hard to bring it out though, because Ryou changed so much from who he used to be…plus, he's got a huge role in GU as the Main Character. Not to mention his Avatar is the very one who Data Drained him when he was younger. But yeah, I can see how it'd be annoying not to see anything that makes that little nod, especially since it's there, but not THAT obvious in the GU games that they're one and the same. Yata basically out and tells you he was Wiseman, Endrance being Elk is kinda obvious, and Kuhn makes mentions of Mai, possibly by name, so him being Seig is there too.

As for Lucied being a Wolf…well…GO PLAY WILD ARMS! Haha, honestly though, I imagined her in human form as kinda like Ouka, but with purple hair and it being hella long. And in wolf form, she kinda looks like Amaterasu from Okami, which is a fucking badass game that should be played by all. I hope the Best Friends Battle in this chapter was good enough. It was written in segments over the course of a few days, and the last song was a BITCH to figure out. I'm STILL not satisfied with it…dammit if only I had something a bit more angelic…

Yamimaru: I was hoping someone would think it would be Juri. Kinda left a crapload of hints from the beginning, and as time passed. Ahh yes…Cubia…well…she didn't use Cubia in this fight…well…not to the extent she could have. Honestly, she kinda forgot. Mikoto doesn't speak to her as often as she did to Xenmaru, and there's a reason for that. I'll explain that in the next chapter. That and…well…she's never summoned Cubia's form before, so she didn't think to use it in this fight, lest the same thing that happened to Haseo happen to her. She can safely handle fragments of its power for now, but she hasn't needed to use the whole thing, nor is she ready to…so if she did…well…bad things would have happened.

But…I think you'll be surprised as to what happens next…

Alright, the last Guardian has been defeated…will the group be able to restore Xenmaru safely? Or will something else get in their way?

**Excerpt from next chapter!!!!**

"Do you see now?"

The pink haired girl sadly spoke.

"We didn't fight with all of our strength to keep you out…"

The ground rumbled as the area's stability dropped drastically.

"No…we fought…to keep him _IN._"


	13. Broken Seal

**Trials of a Goddess**

**Chapter X: The Return**

"I can't believe I got taken down by the oldest trick in the book…"

The area returned to normal. Juri reverted back to her original form of Arietta, and Aina turned back to normal as well. Everyone raced over and congratulated Aina on her victory, but the younger girl was only worried for Arietta.

"I'm fine, really. It's a failsafe he made, if we're defeated in what he would call a 'scripted battle' we return to our original forms relatively unharmed."

"That's good…I really didn't want to hurt you Arietta…"

"Nor I you Aina, but our battle was inevitable unfortunately…"

The White Ideya glowed brightly circling Aina. Arietta frowned sadly.

"I was hoping I wouldn't lose though…"

Ovan spoke up. "Pride will only get you so far."

Arietta shook her head sadly. "It's not pride…it's…"

She was cut off when the six other crystals gathered around the Monolith. All seven of them glowed brightly, as did the seven triangles on the monolith.

(BGM: Metroid Prime 2 Echoes – Dark Samus Appears)

"It's…working! The seal is breaking!"

"Xenmaru-nii is coming back!"

Everyone cheered but Arietta. Tsukasa quickly took note of this.

"Ano…Arietta…why aren't you happy? Your brother is returning…"

"You don't understand…this…wasn't supposed to happen. We didn't fight so hard because we wanted to. Honestly, we'd rather have Onii-chan back than exist…but…"

Suddenly, the monolith glowed a dark, disgusting black. A strange bubbling noise, as if water was boiling began sounding from it. The whole area began to rumble.

"Wait…what's going on? Arietta what's happening?!"

All the PC's screens started filling with static. The area's colors inverted multiple times. The bubbling noise grew louder. A strange pool of black liquid began emerging from where the monolith stood. Aura's eyes widened.

"No! It can't be!"

"Do you see now?"

The pink haired girl sadly spoke.

"We didn't fight with all our strength to keep you out…"

The ground rumbled as the area's stability dropped drastically.

"No…we fought…to keep him _IN_."

(BGM: Astal – The Evil Eye)

The monolith exploded in a wave of black particles.

"Wait a minute…this looks like…"

A sphere of dark energy rested in the center of the puddle

"What is-

From the puddle shot in the air a series of black dots.

"AIDA?!"

The dots swirled together and formed a large circle. Within the circle, a glowing red slitted eye appeared.

"What the hell is that?!"

Arietta looked at the eye and nodded sadly.

"Arietta, what's-

Aina was cut off as the pink haired girl released a shockwave of light energy that knocked everyone on their backs. Tears were streaming down her face as she spoke.

"I'm sorry Aina…I really am…"

From behind her, a wall of black rose. From the wall shot a group of black demonic looking hands. The hands streaked past Arietta, who did nothing but stand there and cry. The hands slammed onto Aina and lifted her into the air.

"AINA!"

"What the hell are you doing Arietta?! Stop this!"

"I can't. I can't go against his will…"

The eye narrowed as it gazed upon Aina. Purple symbols began glowing upon her body.

"She's going to use Cubia!"

Kite, Balmung and Orca all whirled around. "CUBIA?!"

The purple glow grew fiercer.

And then…it happened.

The eye snapped open. In the center, just in front of the slitted pupil, a glowing silver ring of light appeared. Aura, realizing what was to happen, immediately rocketed towards the suspended girl, only to see a blur of pink and black before she slammed into the ground.

"I'm sorry…I want to stop this…but I can't…"

Arietta's tears raced down her cheeks like miniature waterfalls.

The ring pulsed with light. A series of purple energy fragments looking like glass shards surrounded it, in front of the glowing red iris.

"Oh my god…"

"That's the…"

"Damn! Is there nothing we can do?!"

The mages began launching spell after spell, hell even some of the melee PCs were firing what magic they learned from the scrolls. All of them impacted a glowing white barrier erected by Arietta.

**DING**

The ringing noise sang through the area as Aina fully grasped the connection between her and Cubia…however…that was when it struck.

The bracelet flared to life as four purple claw like protrusions appeared from behind it. The claw reached towards Aina…and fired a series of arrow tipped bands of raw data.

"NOOOO!"

The streams slammed into the poor girl's chest, just as the transformation was to begin…when her protections were at their weakest.

She screamed. Pain like no other tore through her body in both worlds. Her scream was heard for blocks in the real world, and all through out The World. A second scream rang through The World as well, this time of a different pitch. The image of a strange floating slab of land with a huge pointed crystal at the bottom and hundreds of branches and roots surrounding it appeared around Aina as the bands of energy ripped apart her data. The image shattered into hundreds of particles of light that swirled around the girl before flying into the Eye. The arms holding the girl vanished and she dropped from the sky.

Ovan stumbled to his feet to catch his sister, but someone had already shot past and rescued her from further harm. As this happened, nobody noticed the eye close, revert to a small mass of AIDA particles and fly into the massive black sphere.

(BGM: Wild Arms Complete – After the Chaos and Destruction)

Aina groaned and opened her eyes. The first thing she saw was…

"A-Arietta…?"

The pink haired girl, still with tears streaming down her face, nodded.

"Oh Gods Aina I'm so sorry. I couldn't…do anything…"

"Ah…I…understand…oh…man this hurts…"

The pink haired girl began to fade. "Oh dammit not now!"

"Ari…etta…?"

"I'm fading Aina…my purpose has been served. I can't stay any longer."

"But…I…"

"I know…I'm sorry Aina…I'm so sorry…"

The pink haired girl finally let go and burst into tears, crying on the aqua haired girl's chest.

Nobody noticed the puddle of black become absorbed into the sphere…

"It's…alright…I'm feeling…better already…"

"It's only because it wasn't after you! It was after what was inside you, the power that could easily best its own!"

Not trusting anyone else to ask, Aura spoke.

"Arietta, what do you mean?"

The pink haired girl steadied herself and placed her hands over Aina.

"I can use the last of my power, before I return to null, to heal you."

A soft pink glow flowed from Arietta's hands. She spoke in a hard voice, and everyone listened.

"The Corruption. What you call AIDA, has broken through all of my brother's mental walls and taken over. It was made easier by the fact that the only thing that remains of him _IS _his mind. That final battle, he didn't defeat the AIDA. He couldn't. No matter how powerful his mind was in this world, taking on the collective of basically every single negative emotion projected into this world over the course of seven years was beyond even him. No…what he did was take it within himself, seal it using his own existence as a cage, and create seven keys to be the locks. That stone monolith...that was the seal."

"And when we gathered the Ideya, we broke the seal."

"Now you see why we fought so hard. We wanted him free, yes, but we knew that it would be released as well. But there's more."

Her body faded a bit more. The sphere behind them began to form small white glowing symbols.

"The 'lock' worked in two ways. The first way would keep him and the AIDA sealed within that space. The second way would be to form a wall between his consciousness and the 'mind' of the AIDA. _That _was our true purpose. Not just to fight off anyone who tried to unlock things, but our very existences helped form a barrier between his consciousness and the AIDA."

Many gasps rang through the group. Yata stepped in.

"So what you're saying…is that with each Guardian that was defeated…"

"The wall between his mind and its mind was weakened, yes. And now the situation is reversed. His consciousness is now sealed within the AIDA, the last spark of life walled away within the massive maze of darkness. It knows what he knows, it feels what he feels. Because AIDA was basically a collective of all forms of emotions, created by the separation between light and dark, it has grown from him, learned from him. His true consciousness is deep within it…but…right now…as it is…they're basically the same being."

Bo spoke quietly. "That's why it attacked Aina…because it knew Cubia was within her…"

"Yes. Two beings have the power to easily match the AIDA as it is now. Cubia, which has been removed from the equation, and…Aura."

The symbols flared and the sphere peeled away. From within emerged a being…surrounded by AIDA particles. Long hair swayed in the wind created by a small sphere of energy that hovered in front of him. The sphere was surrounded by multiple rings of light, looking like some sort of cage. The rings faded and the sphere shrunk into two smaller orbs held by the figure.

The pink glow faded. Aina sat up slowly as Arietta began vanishing.

"Arietta!"

"I wish it didn't have to be this way Aina…I don't have many friends…and it tears me up to leave your fate in the hands of an incomplete being…"

Aura's eyes narrowed at that. _Incomplete?! How am I incomplete?!_

"Just promise me…you'll never give up."

"I want Xenmaru-nii back Arietta. I promise!"

The pink haired girl smiled…just before she burst into particles of white light that faded. Aina stood, helped by Aura and paled.

"Look out!"

The two orbs raced for Aura, who was shoved behind Aina. In a move that surprised everyone, the orbs, that were once on a direct line towards Aura, a line that Aina impeded, flew _around _Aina and impacted Aura anyway. The orbs fused together into one giant sphere of energy that formed a transparent barrier around the white haired girl. Rings of light rotated around the sphere as it flew into the air away from the group.

Everyone turned.

Standing before them…surrounded by glowing black dots…

Stood the form of Xenmaru…

* * *

There we are…the beginning of the end. The reasoning behind the whole Guardian setup has been explained. The two powers that can challenge the now AIDA contaminated Xenmaru have been removed. The powerhouses left are the Infinity Eight, Morgana, Zefie and the Azure Knights. But will that be enough…

Arcon1: Thanks. I'm glad you liked the references. Shining Bind and Leon's Majin Rengokusatsu from Tales of Destiny II are two of my favorite Hi-Ougi's.

Yamimaru: I'm shocked. I really am. I thought at least you'd have seen the AIDA returning. I _did _leave a few hints in later chapters after all. You're not too far off about the mutated dragon thing though…but…that'll come later. Here's the chapter numbers and the text with the hints of AIDA's return:

Chapter V Of Winds and Women: The group of tech experts, admins, and debuggers all looked to the large screen at the far back of the room. The screen flickered like a TV with bad reception, switching between nothing, and static…before the picture snaps into place. _**There was a bubbling sound, as if water was being boiled. The screen was black…until a glowing silver crystal appeared in the center.**_ Within the crystal hovered a figure. The figure was a solid black however, so they couldn't make out any distinguishing features, other than very long hair.

That specified part was the first hint that AIDA wasn't completely dead. It was vague and apparently well disguised though, so that doesn't completely shock me that it was missed…but the next…

Chapter VII Anubis: Unknown to either of them…a blood red eye slammed open behind them, narrowing as the two left. It watched for a few moments…and then vanished as mysteriously as it came…but if anyone else were to be around when it appeared…they'd have seen something horrible…

_**The faint outline…of a bubbling black mass…**_

That one basically says it all right there. AIDA is returning! Seeing as how AIDA in its dotted form looks like a bubbling wall of black. But considering that they're basically flat, dots work best in describing them. They aren't orbs, I checked in one of the AIDA levels in the game series. So I can't call them bubbles.

Alright people…this is it. The final stretch. This fic has maybe…three or four more chapters left. All of them wild fights. You won't wanna miss it!


	14. Phase I: Puppet

All over The World, the rumbling was felt. The players were all assaulted by a wave of fatigue and nausea. Seen by all of them, for a brief moment, almost like a wave, the ground turned into a series of ones and zeroes. People tried to log out, only to find they couldn't. In the real world, those who lived with those playing tried to get their attention, and their voices were heard, but it was like an echo, a fading existence not truly there. Their minds were trapped in the game. Millions and Millions of players…stuck in their alter egos.

The World…the entire game…was once again turned into a gigantic AIDA server…

**Trials of a Goddess**

**Chapter XI: Xenmaru Phase I, The AIDA's Puppet**

"This…this is impossible…I don't believe it…"

"Well believe it…its right in front of us."

"But…but mother said-

"Aura was wrong. She's not infallible you know. She's bound to be wrong some time…"

The AIDA covered Xenmaru slowly stalked forward.

"He's coming!"

Endrance sauntered forward. "Well then…let us strike before he can."

The ringing noise sung through the area as pale violet symbols began to cover Endrance's body.

However…the AIDA was to have none of that…

He raised his right arm, and from it a shining black light shot through the area. Slamming it on the ground, he summoned a wave of force that knocked the Infinity Eight, Aina, Morgana, Zefie and those chosen by the guardians on their backs. A transparent black dome appeared in front of them, separating them from the others.

"KITE!" Natsume cried. She along with the others were horrified at the development.

"How can he do this?!"

"Alicia…she could block off fragments of Morgana…so what if…he could block off the fragments of himself?"

Kite and those remaining inside the barrier tensed.

"Well this sucks…"

"Indeed it does…"

Tsukasa gripped her staff. "It doesn't matter…we still have to beat him."

Xenmaru stood up. The AIDA particles swirled around him until they became two spinning rings of energy around his body. His eyes narrowed, and he vanished.

"Damn! Here he comes!"

(BGM: Brave Fencer Musashi – Final Chapter)

Subaru's eyes widened. "This music…it's…so strange…"

Seeing an opening Xenmaru targeted her.

"Crap, Subaru look out!"

"Huh?"

All she saw was a blur and suddenly she was doubled over in pain. The black figure slammed his right foot to the side of her face and knocked her away.

"Damn you! Lei Zas!"

Xenmaru calmly turned his head…and a wall of earth rose in between him and the attack.

"What the-

Tsukasa could do no more, for as soon as she spoke, the wall crashed apart and became a series of jagged lances of rock. They sped towards her like bullets. Suddenly, in a wave of blue fire, Kite appeared and swung his blades around, blocking every lance. Immediately after, Balmung and Orca leapt at Xenmaru bringing their blades down on his head. He did nothing but look up…and a transparent wall of white blocked their blades.

He motioned with his hands in a shooing manner, and the two were launched away, slamming into the field's walls. Shino was silently healing Subaru's wounds. The blue haired scythe user nodded her thanks and got up. Subaru ran towards Xenmaru and raised her blade, only for a torrent of water to launch her into the air from beneath her feet. The AIDA being turned and raised its hand, pointing at the blue haired woman. The particles of water condensed into spears of ice that instantly crashed into her. Her body dropped only to be gently caught by Xenmaru.

"Wh-what?"

Glowing red eyes stared into hers as he raised a hand to her chest.

"AAAAHHH!!"

"SUBARU!"

AIDA particles raced into her body, making it feel like they were slowly ripping her apart from within. Balmung raced to her aid.

"Ogre Sword!"

Drawing his blade to the side he prepared an attack, only to have Xenmaru launch Subaru into him, AIDA particles returning to his body. Tsukasa raced over to her lover.

"Gods honey what did he do to you?"

"I…I don't know…but I could feel it…it was like it was reading my memories…"

"Why would it be doing that?"

"I…don't know…"

(BGM: BFM – Tower of Death)

Suddenly the AIDA surged. A spiral of black dots shot to the air from Xenmaru's body. His entire body flared black…and he vanished.

"Wha-

**SLAM**

Orca was sent flying by a foot to the face. Shino pulled out a spell.

"Vak Don!"

Small flaming rocks flew towards Xenmaru from the sky. He vanished out of the way and brought a fist to Shino's stomach, followed by a left knee to her face and then spinning and slamming his right foot into her chest to knock her away. Kite flew at him.

"Ghost Falcon!"

Xenmaru quickly spun, waving his hands in the same motion as his body. A sphere of flame surrounded him for a brief moment, but that was all it took to halt Kite's attack. The black clad being then followed up with a thrust of his palm that sent a wave of condensed air at the red clad twin blade, launching him away.

Balmung tried attacking from behind, but hit the shimmering white barrier.

"Crap."

Indeed. For Xenmaru swiftly whirled on him, bringing a fist covered in rock to his face. He followed with a spinning low kick, sweeping Balmung off his feet…

_**And then time slowed…**_

Balmung was slowly flipped to his side in midair, so his torso was facing the AIDA being. Xenmaru gathered energy into his right fist and slammed it into Belmont's chest. But he wasn't done. A split second after that, the energy detonated, and Balmung was rocketed away.

_**And time resumed…**_

Tsukasa was about to cast a spell, when Xenmaru turned to her and quickly raised his left palm. AIDA particles swirled around his hand, creating what looked like a black void. The void then launched a series of jagged streams of black and white energy that pierced through Tsukasa, halting her attack. She dropped to her knees in pain, clutching her chest.

"D-damn…"

Kite got back up and rushed Xenmaru who swung his left arm at the ground. A visible wave of white energy rocketed from where he motioned. It slammed into Kite, carrying him away again. Subaru cast a weak group healing spell on everyone. Orca, Balmung and Kite all got back up slowly.

**Hell's Rolling**

Xenmaru thrust his arms to the side as two black disks of dark fire appeared around his wrists. He flung both arms in front of him, launching the blazing rings at the group. The disks crossed paths on their way to the group. Shino and Tsukasa raised their staves.

"OrLei Zas!"

Twin waves of light energy propelled by multicolored beams rocketed towards the flaming disks. The two attacks collided canceling out…barely. The AIDA warrior spun in place, two glowing pale blue orbs in hand. He flicked both his wrists and the two orbs launched in an arc, headed towards the group. Zefie instantly recognized the attack.

"Get outta the way!"

Shino, Tsukasa and Subaru leapt to one side as Kite, Balmung and Orca jumped to the other…but it was useless. The two orbs suddenly detonated, turning into gigantic versions of themselves, greatly damaging both parties.

Orca and Balmung nodded to each other. Orca pulled Kite to his feet and began quickly messaging him the plan the two Descendants of Fianna had come up with. Kite relayed the message to Subaru, Tsukasa and Shino.

"Ike!"

Subaru raced to the left in a wide circle around Xenmaru. He couldn't bother with her however, as Balmung and Orca were literally streaking towards him. He waved his right arm and a series of white glyphs, almost looking like giant snowflakes, appeared before him. Each one fired a beam of blue-white light at the charging warriors. However they deftly dodged each one. The AIDA warrior scowled and raised his arm. He received no chance to act for Subaru had launched her scythe at his back. He flinched as it slammed into his barrier, jarring him slightly. He turned an annoyed glare upon Subaru, only to wince again as the two Blade Brandier's slammed their swords upon his back, once again impacting the barrier.

_**The shimmering white dome became solid…**_

Xenmaru turned to deal with the Descendants, only to be jarred again as a set of blades met his barrier, this time belonging to Kite. He growled and brought his right arm across his chest, arm glowing with dark energy. A small roar escaped his throat as he spun; releasing the energy gathered in a wave that repelled the warriors. But he was too late. The two mages cast at the same time. Twin waves of light slammed into the barrier…and it shattered like glass.

"Holy crap they did it!"

Showing actual fear Xenmaru began motioning with his hands.

"He's casting something! Attack now!"

Kite Orca and Balmung all raced at Xenmaru…but they were a second too slow. Rings of white light surrounded the AIDA warrior as the spell completed.

**Judgment**

A series of prismatic holy energy literally rained down on the group like falling lasers. Each impact greatly damaged the group. Shino recovered quickly.

"Lei Zas!"

She launched a wave of light energy at the AIDA being…which was blocked by another shield, this one completely transparent. Suddenly he crossed his arms.

**Chains of Promathia**

The strange AIDA void opened up again, this time behind him. Hundreds of black chains rocketed out of it slamming into the group and binding them. Xenmaru calmly walked away from the void and raised his arm. A silver ring appeared around his wrist and a series of purple shards surrounded the ring. Claw like appendages appeared from behind the shards, and inched their way towards the group like a demonic hand reaching for its prey.

And that…was when everything changed…

(BGM: Guilty Gear X – Awe of She)

"**SEARING SORROW!"**

A giant ball of flame rocketed from the far end of the barrier, slamming into the AIDA warrior and disabling his attack. A shadowed figure flickered into view and pressed the advantage the surprise attack gave it.

The figure drew a long katana and immediately began a series of rapid slashes and thrusts. Each attack connected with Xenmaru's bare body, black dots flying off of him from every strike. The figure spun and slashed again, this time channeling some sort of energy into the blade. The attack knocked Xenmaru away, and the AIDA warrior landed on his back. The shadowed figure leapt to the sky, intent on bringing its blade down on the fallen being.

Unfortunately for the unknown fighter, Xenmaru raised his left hand at the last second, a clear field of…something…blocking the attack…only…it looked as if he was struggling. He pulled his arm back, constricting the barrier slightly, before throwing his weight into it. The maneuver acted like a parry and repelled the figure backward. The unknown life form flipped gracefully in the air and landed on its feet. It stood up slowly, and with that allowed all parties to see it.

Long midnight black hair cascaded down to the middle of the warrior's back. A black V-neck top over a fishnet shirt covered the being's body. Twin wooden dark blue arm guards adorned its wrists. The figure wore a pair of solid black fighter's pants that reached down to its ankles. Black sandals covered its feet as wooden shin guards protected the figure's legs. Two small purple jewels rested on the being's ears. Bright violet orbs stared at the now standing Xenmaru, as the figure's young, female face gave a sad frown in his direction. Her pale skin seemed to glow in the strange light given off by the barrier.

Aura, who was once struggling inside the containment field, stared at the new arrival.

"This is…"

"Ok…I think I stand for everyone here when I say who the FUCK is that?!"

Aina's eyes widened in joy. "She's not dead!"

Ovan turned his gaze upon his sister. "Aina…who are you talking about? Do you know that person?"

"Just look at her name."

"Mikoto? Wait…you can't mean…"

"She's alive. And she's going to beat that thing down!"

"You're not him."

The AIDA warrior glared.

"I've been in his mind, I've seen into his heart. You are **not **my Zero-kun!"

He attacked. A spear of ice rocketed towards the younger girl. Instantly, a curved blade appeared in her right hand and she brought it down, slicing the icicle in two. She kicked off the ground and hover-ran towards Xenmaru. She brought her blade down in an overhead swing, but Xenmaru thrust his left arm to the side, creating a barrier of white light in the form of a rectangular wall. Her sword bounced off the wall as if it were made of rubber and she stumbled backwards. She turned the tripping motion into a back flip, narrowly evading a torrent of lightning that shot over her stomach as she flipped away from where the now fading light stood.

Immediately after that she placed both palms in the air above her head, making a dome of purple light that blocked the broadsword that Xenmaru called out of thin air. Using his sword arm, he pushed his weight over Mikoto's head and behind her where he brought his right leg around for a side kick. Mikoto whirled around and slapped his leg to the side with her left hand, passing the offending appendage in front of her. She prepped her pointer and middle fingers of her right hand and made a poking motion toward Xenmaru's side. The AIDA warrior barely twisted his body out of the way as a small spark of purple light appeared around her fingertips. His movement caused her arm to pass right in front of his torso, where he grasped her wrist and pulled her off her feet and in front of him where he pulled back his right fist.

The black haired maiden slammed her left palm down on his wrist, stopping his attack and countered with a palm strike to his face. The impact jarred him greatly, which opened him up for a series of open handed strikes to his torso, followed by Mikoto pivoting on her left heel and slightly hopping in the air to form a sort of corkscrew-drilling motion with her right foot into his stomach which seriously knocked him away.

As he flew backward, Xenmaru slashed his right arm to the side.

**Lance of the Thunder God**

A giant spear of electricity shot towards Mikoto, hell bent on frying her alive. However she slammed her fist onto the ground, a purple aura emanating from her body.

"**Legion's Reach!**"

From the point of impact came a small wave of purple light. The lance of lightning split into multiple bolts of electricity. Where the purple light touched, a series of entwined branches rose from the ground like growing plants. The lightning attack was diverted into the branches which acted like a series of lightning rods.

"That's…Cubia?!"

"WHAT?!"

Kite and Balmung yelled out.

Xenmaru flicked his arm to the side and a glowing red staff appeared in a wave of swirling black particles.

"Skeith's staff!"

The AIDA warrior ran at Mikoto, swinging the staff with two hands like a club. The girl ducked under the swing and brought her leg in a sweeping arc along the ground attempting to trip Xenmaru. The elder fighter jumped over the girl as she kicked out at him and brought the cross portion of the staff down on her. She rolled to the side, narrowly evading the attack, only to get caught from behind as he quickly used the slight bounce of the weapon on the ground to turn his attack to a horizontal swing. The girl slammed into the ground heavily from the blow. Xenmaru then took the momentum from the horizontal swing and brought his weapon over his head, throwing his weight into it. The movement brought him into the air. He then forced his weight forward into a front flip.

Mikoto pushed herself to the side as the weapon slammed into the ground right where she was once laying. A cloud of dust billowed into the air. Mikoto hopped backward out of the possible swinging range of the weapon. The dust swirled as Xenmaru launched out of it, the staff now being held by the cross. A second tip of the same length as the first appeared on the bottom of the cross, making it look like two rods were attached to the cross. Xenmaru swung with the front edge first, which was ducked under by the younger girl. He then reversed the weapon and swung with the other blade in the opposite direction. He missed again, but he compensated for that by delivering a back kick to the girl's chest.

Mikoto went with the kick and turned her flight into a back flip, clearing a great distance away from Xenmaru…but the AIDA weapon master was unimpressed. He began spinning the double edged weapon in his hand like a baton. While running towards the pale girl, the two empty parts of the cross extended, making the weapon now look like a spinning fan. The weapon was basically turned into a spinning disk of red that hovered a few inches away from Xenmaru's right palm. He pulled back and then launched the disk at the girl.

Mikoto sung her arms around her body and began twirling on her feet. Purple wisps of energy surrounded her and then transformed into a dome of spinning purple energy.

"KAITEN!"

The spinning blade slammed into the girl's whirling barrier, the two spinning forces clashing, a series of red and purple sparks lancing out from the contact point. Annoyed Xenmaru slashed his right arm in a circular motion in front of him creating a faint circle of energy. The circle turned into six spinning white orbs that all rocketed towards Mikoto's spinning dome. The girl sensed the attack coming and gathered more energy.

"KAITEN: HOFUKU KYUZO!"

The spinning dome of energy seemed to pulse. Both the spinning cross and the orbs of light were instantly repelled by the wave of force that emanated from the sphere. Haseo commented as the girl slowly stopped spinning.

"Damn, she wasn't kidding when she said Cubia could match Xenmaru easily…"

"She's his opposite, created during his time in The World…knowing everything he knows…she's the best weapon against him…"

Xenmaru grew irritated and glowed a fierce light blue.

**Arctic Rain**

A series of frozen lances rained down upon Mikoto who threw her left arm into the air.

"**Megiddo Flame!**"

A wall of crimson fire erupted from where her arm moved and shielded her from the attack. Before Xenmaru could attack again, this time, Mikoto took the advantage. She waved her arms in multiple patterns before her, summoning a glowing black sphere into place. She slammed her palms on the sphere, which was surrounded by a glowing band of purple runes.

"**CHAOS GEHENNA!"**

A humungous beam of dark energy erupted from the sphere. Surprised, Xenmaru quickly threw up the wall of nothingness to defend himself. He succeeded, but he was completely focused on the beam.

"ORLEI ZAS!"

Twin walls of light slammed into the barrier from behind, weakening it greatly. Xenmaru was straining to keep the defense up. Balmung and Orca raced in with Subaru between them. The three of them slashed their weapons creating triple crescents of energy that slammed into the barrier…and caused it to shatter like glass.

A bright light came from where Kite stood. A green ring of energy appeared around his right wrist. Multiple red shards of energy came together in a cone shape as a transparent red band with symbols around it began rotating around his arm. Three bright red blades appeared from within the cone, rotating with the band as their axis. The blades gathered energy then slowly stopped rotating. Once they stopped the energy erupted outward in the form of multiple strands of arrow tipped data that slammed into Xenmaru's back.

The barrier around the group fell as the AIDA puppet roared in agony…and then exploded into hundreds of particles.

Unknown to them…the battle…was just beginning…

* * *

Phase I complete.

This is the first of the final battles. As you can see, Cubia wasn't fully defeated when The Eye data drained Aina. For Mikoto's look, imagine a 15 year old violet eyed Hyuuga Hanabi from Naruto.

As stated above, Cubia is one of two beings able to easily match Xenmaru…but that was only the First Phase. Now, comes a being that not even Mikoto can fight, for she is incomplete. The Infinity Eight once again join together in the next chapter…but…are they enough to defeat the coming threat?

I hope everyone liked the battles in this chapter. Like I said, these last ones are all fighting until a certain point. Then is philosophy and then more fighting…then the end.

Arcon1: Glad you enjoyed it. Here's the beginning of the end!

Sister of Kyuubi: Arietta, AKA Juri the Light Guardian was the one that transformed into the angelic form. Aina simply turned into that darker version of herself from the first story. Ooh good, you've played, that means you'll understand some of the attacks coming in one of the next few chapters. And yes, Wild Arms is for the PSX (AKA PSOne). There's a remake called Wild Arms Alter Code: F for the PS2 that's out though. Might as well pick that one up.

As you can see, Cubia wasn't as gone as everyone thought. She IS however horribly weakened, though it's not shown in this battle. She can't do much more than match Xenmaru's level…but the next fight shows he's on a level higher than she can go…

As for Morgana…well, she won't be able to do much, neither will Zefie. With Aura blocked off, Xenmaru can now radiate a field of energy that repels AI. But who knows…maybe they'll find a way past it…

Here we go…the first of the last chapters…next up is a massive battle and…Aura's Vision comes true…

Oh yeah, almost forgot…

**Kaiten: Hofuku Kyuzo – Whirl: Retaliation Wave**


	15. Phase II: Dragon

(BGM: Metroid Prime – VS. Metroid Prime)

_**Bloody irritating isn't it? That strange tingling feeling in the back of your head. The one that shows up every time you think of taking off those blasted goggles.**_

_**Pisses you off doesn't it? Of course it does. You've got other things to be doing right now. Yeah, well those are going to have to wait. You can't log out can you? Didn't think so…**_

_**It's obvious something is wrong here. It doesn't take a tech specialist to realize that there's an unusual set of circumstances going on.**_

_**What? You want to know? Hmph…fine…I'll tell you…but in the end, you'll have to do something for me. Oh don't be like that. You really have no choice in the matter…**_

_**You see…millions of lives are at stake here…and guess what fucktard?**_

_**Yours is one of them…**_

**Trials of a Goddess**

**Chapter XII: Xenmaru Phase II, The Twilight Dragon**

"Did we get him?"

"No…if we had, Aura would have been released."

It was true; Aura was still trapped in her cage.

"Mikoto-chan!"

Aina ran up to, and hugged the slightly taller girl.

"Hey Aina…sorry I took so long…"

"Don't be. I didn't think you were still alive after…"

"Yeah…I thought I was dead too…I don't even know how I got here, just that I saw some mockery of Zero-kun and knew it needed to be put down."

As if in anger from her statement, a large mass of AIDA particles gathered together.

"Damn, it's starting again…"

The world around them changed into Avatar Space. The wall of black shot into the air, twisting and contorting into a grotesque form. Emerging from the black mass was an extremely demonic looking dragon. Massive spikes ran down its spine, all along to the tip of its tail. Two big beefy arms emerged from an almost humanoid looking torso. Two long curved blade-like edges immediately jutted out from just below its wrists on both arms. Three sharp looking claws were attached to those wrists. The lower part of its body held no legs, only a long snake-like tail. Four tattered looking wings shot out of its back, and flapped as if testing themselves. However, something went noticed only by Mikoto…

On its chest…

Was a glowing black Hazard symbol…

Haseo stepped forward.

"Well…looks like a job for us, right guys?"

The rest of the Infinity Eight nodded.

The second Phase had begun…

_**The sound of the Holy One rang…**_

_**

* * *

**_

_**There's been…a situation. A powerful program has been activated. Something that will spell disaster for not just this "game world" but the real, Human World as well. As I speak to you, there is a patch of code being written into The World that has transformed it.**_

_**How, you ask? Well I'm not surprised you didn't notice it. It's hidden very well. Secretly weaving itself into the core of this world. The thing is, the code is doing a few things at once, none of them good for you. The first thing it's doing is disabling the 'Log Out' function. So that means you, and the other millions of players accessing the servers of The World, are stuck.**_

_**And yes, I say stuck for a reason. Here comes the beauty of the second part. You'd think that it'd be simple just to take off the glasses and do a hard reset right? Sure you'd loose whatever levels you gained since you last saved, but who gives a crap right? That's where the second part comes in.**_

_**Ever heard of Subliminal Messaging? Well, in case you haven't, I'll explain. The gist of it is that it's a code of unusual information that gets sent into your brain secretly. It's a rare thing to happen, because it takes planning, skills, and very subtle techniques. Of course, when playing an online game…it gets a lot easier, especially one where practically everyone is wearing those damned head goggles.**_

_**Basically, the second part of this reprogramming is that it's sending a signal, into your brain, which tells it your body is "asleep." I say "asleep" because you obviously can't feel your real body now can you?**_

_**Here's the clincher.**_

_**That code, I mentioned before, that's keeping you from logging out, and blocking your mind from re-connecting to your real body? It's doing something else at the same time. It's sending a different signal into your brain. One that says, "This is real." Confused? Thought so. I would be too.**_

_**This particular signal makes your brain believe that whatever happens in The World, is actually happening to your body. That breeze you're feeling? You're actually feeling it. What? You don't believe me? I'm not surprised. It sounds easy to think "well, the game seems so real, maybe my mind is naturally imagining the breeze." Well go on then! Give it a try. Cut your finger with something sharp. That or punch a wall, or kick something with your foot. But don't bang your head on anything. We need that intact for now…**_

* * *

The battle was fierce. Scythe met claw, which was met with tail, which was met with scythe. Haseo would launch the eight swords at the dragon, only for the dragon to be surrounded by an aura of defense that seemed impregnable. Even when the attack went through, it was healed faster than they eye could track. The dragon was a fearsome foe, able to evade or deflect nearly every attack sent at it.

With a flap of its wings, razor sharp waves of energy would hurtle at Skeith. With a swipe of its claws, waves of crimson would tear through the skies. With a flick of its mighty tail, spears of darkness would attempt to impale the Avatar. It was all he could do to not get hit. But when he did, the damage dealt was neigh unbelievable. Skeith managed to slice off an arm, only for it to grow back and smash him in the face with a mighty fist. It dealt more damage than it took…and the battle had just started…

_**

* * *

**_

_**Hurts doesn't it? Yeah well, that's the second half of the second task the code is doing. So let's see now. First off you can't log out. Second off you can't connect to your real body, and third, you feel whatever your character is feeling. Scared yet? Good. Now pay attention.**_

_**There is a group fighting this thing. Yes, it has a core, and someone is fighting it now. Four AI and a crapload of people just like you. They're holding their own pretty well too. But there's a problem with that…**_

_**You see, this thing has multiple forms. Doesn't sound like much of a problem does it? Just an annoyance. Well, it's both. They don't know this, but they're actually helping this thing spread. What? Contact them? Pfft, I wish. They're in an entirely different location than you are. They're in a field that exists outside the boundaries of The World…they can't be contacted, trust me, I've tried.**_

_**Well then how are they helping it? Each time they deal damage to it, which is hard cause this thing has defenses like you'd never believe, a bit of the program's data surges. Yeah, people on the outside have noticed it. But there's nothing they can do about it. Well anyway, the more damage dealt, the more data is released, and the faster this thing spreads. I'd say it's covered about two-thirds of The World already. There's no way to stop it at this point.**_

_**But that's not why I've contacted you…This point isn't important…it's what's coming up that is…**_

_**You see…this thing believes The World needs to be wiped out of existence. So what right? It's just a game. Sure people will be pissed, but no real harm done right? Wrong. Remember what the code is doing? Making your brain think that this is the "Real World?" Yeah, that's got a purpose. And you're not gonna like it…**_

* * *

"My god…can anything defeat it?"

"It heals so quickly…too quickly…"

"Xenmaru's ultimate form…a power to defeat even the gods…"

"Mou…it's got to have some sort of weak point!"

_It does…but…the problem is disabling his AT field long enough to get through…_

"Haseo!"

Shino cried out in fear. The dragon had somehow managed to land a hit with the lances of darkness. The lances turned into a glowing orb of dark blue, which levitated Skeith higher into the air, to equal level with the dragon.

"T-this is…"

In front of the dragon formed six points of light. Yellow, Red, Green, Blue, Black and White. From the points came beams of light that connected them into a six pointed star. The star flared with light, creating a series of circles around it, each ring holding numerous runes of unknown origin.

"Power…Death…Emotion…" Mikoto gasped. "No! It's going to use-

**Chaotic Elimination**

The star began to spin. Energy gathered in the maw of the great beast. A silver light began floating towards the rotating star. The light flared and shot into the giant rings. Seconds later the entire thing shattered as a massive beam of multicolored energy ripped out of it and engulfed Skeith.

"GET DOWN!"

The beam turned into a massive explosion that engulfed the entire area…

_**

* * *

**_

_**Since you're literally trapped in this world, with your brain believing this is the real world, what this thing plans to do…is really gonna ruin your day.**_

_**See, when this thing does what it plans to do, there's gonna be a massive surge of data…probably in the form of a big ass explosion of some sort. I don't know, this thing's a grand stander, it's gotta make some sort of explosion to do this crap. Well, when that happens, it's gonna overload your brain, forcing it to shut down.**_

_**Yes, you read that correctly. You're gonna be killed. Well, maybe not KILLED, but you're going to be at the very least knocked into a coma. But see this is the worst bit. The World won't exist anymore, and as such, your mind, which is now **_**tied **_**to The World, will be erased. So yeah, even if you woke up, you'd be dead.**_

_**Don't believe me? Well then…maybe you'll believe this…**_

* * *

The Dragon roared at the group, roared in triumph. None of their attacks were strong enough to damage it. Not even the Eight Phases themselves were able to defeat him.

So what hope did a group of human PCs have against such a powerful enemy?

"Damn…not a single attack went through!"

"His barrier is too strong; even Corbenik's barrier wasn't THAT strong!"

"It's like fighting Cubia all over again…"

Bordeaux stumbled to her feet, picking up her sword.

"So what? We just give the hell up? FUCK that shit! I don't care WHAT it takes, that son-of-a-bitch is going _DOWN!_"

A blue light shot out of her chest, and hovered in front of her. Lights flew out of Tabby's, Alkaid's, Natsume's, Aina's, and Zelkova's chests as well.

"Damn right you're not giving up yet!"

"Aina, we can do this, we just need to hold him off long enough for Aura to recover! Please, help me find my brother!"

"Come on Tabby, you really think it's gonna be over like this?"

"Zelkova…do not think that beast is without weakness…this battle is not over just yet."

"Hey, cutie, don't think it's over just cause that thing managed to knock you down. Get back up and let's kick its ass!"

_**My master is not himself…I wish…for him to return to who he once was…and to do that…we must destroy what corrupts him.**_

The six stood where the others still kneeled.

"They're right you know…we can't just give up now…Aura…no…The World…no…_Zero _is counting on us! We've all been picked by his guardians to wield their power, which is basically like being picked by the man himself! We have to stop that thing, no matter what!"

Kira's form merged with Alkaid's and a red fox-like aura surrounded her.

Natsume nodded. "Yeah…I still have to pay him back for beating me like that…Edgemaster Natsume is gonna take that dragon down!"

Weapon's form merged with Natsume's and a green aura surrounded her.

"I may not have known him personally, but a friend of Aura's is a friend of mine! I will not give up until I see Aura's smiling face again!"

Anubis' form merged with Zelkova, and a golden yellow glow surrounded him.

"When The World finds out I helped take down the great Shinigami…my reputation will be restored! The most fearsome PKer in The World is coming back!"

Chaos' form fused with Bordeaux and a blue glow surrounded her.

"I can't give up here…I have to get him back…so Aura-nee-chan will be happy again…and so I can get Arietta's brother back…please…just a little more!"

A white glow surrounded her.

"I don't know what's going on…but I can tell it's tied to what put Shino in that coma…this isn't something I can do outside of The World…so I'll fight, even if I'm not that strong…I want…to make Haseo…and Shino…and Ovan proud of me!"

Lucied merged with her, and she glowed black.

The six of them stood together as the dragon roared again.

"This is it! We won't lose this time!"

_**

* * *

**_

_**You still with me?**_

_**That wasn't pleasant was it? Well, it wasn't supposed to be. It's a wake up call. This is real. This is happening. And guess the fuck what? YOU are gonna help me stop it.**_

_**Well, now that you've come to your senses, I guess I'd better explain how huh?**_

_**This thing will go off. There's no stopping it. But like I said, THAT isn't what we need to stop. When this thing goes off there's gonna be some sort of sign just before the explosion. So if you're in a Dungeon, I suggest you warp out within the next…oh I'd say thirty minutes. That sign will be your cue.**_

_**When that explosion goes off, I want you to think. Think about your life. Your friends, your loved ones…fuck even your material possessions. Your hopes, your dreams, your very existence, both inside and outside of The World…**_

_**Focus on that…and refuse. Refuse to be knocked unconscious, refuse to be taken away from the world you live in. Fight with your heart, fight with your soul. Take a good look around you. Right now, this world is your world. This world is your home. If this world gets destroyed, you'll never return to the other one.**_

_**Millions of people are here right now. Millions are seeing this message. All of you, when the time comes, put aside your differences…and Hope. Desire to live. Let the Purity of your thoughts act as a shield for this world. Let your inner Courage fill this world. You have my Wisdom with you now. Defeat it with your Intelligence.**_

* * *

The six glowing players ran around the dragon forming a sort of multi-colored cage. The dragon roared as they all held out their arms and flared with light. A pillar of energy erupted from each one and slammed into the dragon's barrier. It screeched in pain and fear as the power of the Guardians began overwriting the AIDA's grip.

_This is it…_

Mikoto prepped her blade, holding it to the side of her head, blade facing up.

_I have one shot…_

She pulled her arms back, placing her weight on her right foot, preparing.

_**The barrier flared with multi-colored light and then shattered like glass…**_

_Now is the time!_

She launched into the air, zooming towards the thrashing creature. The Hazard sign on its chest flashed red. Mikoto pulled her blade back and slammed it into the dragon's chest, right at the center of the symbol. It flared black…then white…engulfing the entire area.

_**

* * *

**_

_**And then… maybe…if we all work together…**_

_**Just maybe…your lives won't end this day…**_

* * *

It's a bit short, but it took forever to get this battle out. Not as epic as I'd wanted, but the next chapter, which, by the way, is already written, will have a REALLY good fight. I'm pretty sure all of you know who's talking…but maybe you don't…just to clear things up, the stuff in Bold Italics outside of a scene involving the group is someone else…

Sister of Kyuubi: well, I wouldn't consider myself a god…(for I am male), but…I guess I'm pretty good. Thanks for reading…it's almost over, and I'm sure you'll hate to see it go…nice to know I have a fangirl though…

Yamimaru: you're right, the second Phase was the Giant Enemy Dragon (couldn't resist). The third…well…you'll see. The next is the last form, but…like someone said in this chapter…after that…well…

Wolfy: well, you've got plenty of time, go catch up! Especially since the next few chapters, which will lead to the end, will be VERY confusing…

Arcon1: thanks. This fic is almost done…

Next Chapter: Aura is freed, and has the battle of her life! And then…everything goes to shit.


	16. End of The World

"Damn…did we get him?"

"It sounded like it."

"We did it! He's free now!"

Everyone began celebrating their victory. However one stood stoic, watching.

_It's not over yet. I can feel it…there's…something wrong…_

(BGM: T.M. Revolution – Web of Night Japanese ver.)

The area started rumbling. The dust cloud in front of them swirled angrily. The cloud was flung away like an unwanted blanket…and a glowing black sphere floated into the air.

"No…you mean…he's still corrupted?"

"But…we did everything!"

The sphere pulsed angrily, and a wave of force knocked everyone down. The sphere peeled away, like the skin of a potato, and revealed once again, Xenmaru, floating above them. He raised his arm and flung it down, sending another wave of force, one that knocked everyone away.

Aura stood, watching.

_No…it's not supposed to be like this…this was supposed to be his freedom, his afterlife...his rest. This isn't right! This isn't meant to be! I can't…I can't just stand here…and let him suffer like this! The others, they've done so much to get him back, and now, this damned thing is controlling him! I know he's in there, I can feel it! I'm supposed to be the Goddess of this world, the one that can bend it to her will as I see fit…and yet I'm beaten by the soul of a human! But…what if that was what I was supposed to learn…I can't be a true goddess…if I don't know the power of the human soul._

She watched as the AIDA swirled around him, slowly attaching itself to his body. There was a small flare of black light, and the form of the young man changed. Now, floating above them was a being that was solid black. The AIDA had solidified into a pitch black armor like shell around him. Five claws emerged from his wrist where his hands were. Two appendages emerged from its back, looking like praying mantis claws, but functioning like wings. Xenmaru raised his arm, and a glowing blue sword of light appeared in his hand. He flicked it, testing its weight, then pulled back.

_No…he's going to-_

He shot forward at blinding speeds…aiming for the one person who never gave up hope…

"AINA!"

The blue haired girl closed her eyes and sighed, preparing for her end.

_I'd rather die by the hand of no other…_

Everyone screamed her name, telling her to run, to move…but she knew. At the speeds he was traveling at, chasing her down would be nothing. Warping wasn't an option, nor was Logging Out.

Time seemed to slow as everyone watched in horror.

Unseen to everyone, as they were all looking at Aina, Aura began to glow.

Xenmaru raised his blade and brought it down.

**DING**

Floating in front of his blade, which was halted by an unseen force, was Aura. Her eyes, now a bright purple, narrowed at her target.

"I think it's time to end this."

**Trials of a Goddess**

**Chapter XIII:**

**Time of an End**

Xenmaru was repelled by the unseen barrier and was flung away. He flipped around and then thrust his arms out, halting his movement. He arced forward, and rocketed towards Aura, only to be repelled again.

Aura leaned forward and shot towards Xenmaru, calling forth a glowing white one-handed broadsword in her right hand, and bringing it down upon his head. He moved to her left, allowing her weight to pull her down past him and slashed his right claw, only to have her twist in an instant and block it. She then took the force of the swing to push her top half down, flipping herself, and kicking him in the side of the face.

Xenmaru was spun away from her by the kick, but quickly recovered, raising his claws just in time to block her sword. She swung from the lower left and he brought his arm down from the upper right, not only blocking her strike, but knocking her off balance. He placed a palm on her chest, right in the center of her breasts, and his hand pulsed. Aura was shot backwards by the wave of force he fired into her chest. She coughed, rubbing her ribs only to have her eyes widen in shock as he brought his left claw across to try to lob off her head. She ducked just in time and he only caught a few strands of hair. However he used his momentum to swing his right leg and punt her away.

She flipped in the air and then reversed her movement to leap at him. She brought her blade down on his arms and they stood, both trying to overpower the other, before Aura pulled her weight to the side, causing Xenmaru to become imbalanced, and stumble. Aura attempted to capitalize on his moment of weakness and brought her blade down in a vertical swing, only to have him roll out of the way and use his left hand to pop himself into the air calling another blue sword.

Aura ran up to him, twirling her blade and the two clashed again. They both pulled back and swung again, clashing. Their blades slid off each other and they both spun around for another swing. They were mirroring each others moves perfectly, making an elegant looking dance of death. Aura would swing down, Xenmaru would swing up. Xen would swing left, she would swing right. The two stood in the same spot, constantly clashing blades back and forth, left and right. All the others could see was two figures and swirling flashes of silver and blue around them.

* * *

"Damn look at those two go!"

Alkaid couldn't hold her excitement.

"She's fighting him…on even ground…"

"Is this the true power of the Goddess of The World?"

Zefie nodded. "She finally understands. She's been afraid all this time…but she fights now because she loves him. Or at least, Alicia loved him…I don't know."

Mikoto wasn't sure. "The battle isn't over yet though…we still have to remove AIDA's influence from him…"

Morgana spoke up. "She'll do it. She understands herself now…she can handle this."

Ovan and the others turned back to watch. "I hope you are correct Morgana…"

* * *

Finally they clashed again, then pulled their blades back as both tried to launch a torrent of lightning at one another. Their two free hands were temporarily connected by strands of electricity…until the pressure from the attacks caused the energy between them to detonate, sending them both flying back from each other.

They both flipped and landed on their feet, skidding back a little ways. They both stood, but Aura was the one who made the first move. She took a few steps forward, and then blurred. A split second later she had locked blades with Xenmaru again. Her eyes widened as she saw something nobody else did. _Is he…Smiling?_

Xenmaru pushed all his weight into his arm and forced Aura back. He got a sinister looking smirk on his face as he slowly stalked forward, then raised his claw. She blocked his swing, but only just. Her legs buckled under the force of the swing, which stunned her for a moment. That moment was all that Xenmaru needed to kick her away.

He raised his left arm, and a cone of energy appeared. The bracelet he received from Alicia activated, and quickly fired. Aura flipped under the shot, the four beams passing right over her. _This is one of the few times I'm glad my boobs aren't as big as Pai's._

He went with her evasion and swung his claw diagonally downward from right to left. A crescent shaped wave of energy rocketed from the area he slashed and flew at Aura. The white haired girl's eyes widened. _That's a new one! _She twisted her body to the side, narrowly evading it, only to lurch backward and go flying from a second that she didn't see coming. He continued swinging his arm launching wave after wave. She recovered after the first hit and brought her own blade to block his attacks. However she was being pushed back. Suddenly she felt no resistance against her blade, she looked down and saw he had begun floating down to the ground.

His toes touched the ground…and then he vanished. Aura brought her blade around behind her and barely blocked a powerful swing from Xenmaru. She saw nothing but a flicker of black as he flipped around in front of her to try again. She defended, once again only catching a flicker of black, however this time she noticed it was moving.

_Left!_

She blocked an overhead swing. The flicker leaned right. She turned her blade around, holding it like a dagger and blocked a slash to her back. However this time the flicker didn't go in any direction. Suddenly she felt a foot slam into the back of her head.

She growled and slashed her left hand to the side. Immediately after that movement, a torrent of energy shards rocketed towards Xenmaru. He calmly summoned forth a small sphere of energy that covered his body. The effect was temporary however. As soon as he stopped, he lurched forward, the wind knocked out of him. Aura had recalled the few moments of recovery time he required after that trick and planned for it. She flew in below him and punched him in the stomach. She then clubbed him in the face with the hilt of her sword, and then spin-kicked him away from her. She quickly banished her sword and launched two small spheres of energy after him, and then chased after them, bringing the sword back.

Xenmaru weathered the two energy spheres, but blocked her last attack with his claws. He pushed her back and then slashed. She pulled back and the swing only caught her robe, slicing it open. She flew back, and pulled it off.

* * *

Below, while watching the fight, after seeing this Kuhn couldn't help but comment.

"Not only are we getting to see an awesome fight…but we're getting a free striptease as well! This ROCKS!"

**TWACK**

Pretty much every girl present hit him in some way. Of course, Atoli's hurt the worst. Clubbed in the balls. Yeah. Ow. The men of the group couldn't help but shudder while shaking their heads at him.

* * *

Aura flung her robe at Xenmaru, who quickly sliced it into ribbons…however Aura had vanished. He looked around, only to have a fist come flying into his face. He was pushed backwards. The action opened him up for more.

Aura rushed him, repeatedly punching him in the stomach, slowly making him rise, before delivering a spinning kick to his side that sent him flying. She shot after him and then vanished. Slashes began appearing on his body as he was knocked around like a rag doll. She made one last kick, and a blue-green dome appeared around him, and then shattered.

She curled up into a ball and then extended her arms and legs. Around her wrists formed two bracelets. She slowly raised them over her head and the two fused into one giant bracelet. She lowered her arms in front of her, and the blades extended themselves. A glowing white light appeared in between her palms, at the center of the giant weapon. The light exploded into a beam that rocketed towards Xenmaru, who blocked it with a barrier…however he was struggling.

Aura pushed more of her energy into the attack. _I can't stop here…I have to keep going! Just a little more! _Aura pulled her arms back and pushed the last bit of energy she had into the blast. The extra push shattered Xenmaru's barrier. He roared in agony as the supercharged Data Drain ripped the AIDA out of him. There was a blinding flash of light as millions of black dots exploded outward, scattering to the winds.

And then…the world went to shit…

* * *

(BGM: Valkyrie Profile 2 – Unrestrained Struggle)

The ground began to shake.

"What's happening?!"

"What the hell?! Shouldn't it be over?!"

"Nii-chan! Look!"

Aina pointed to the sky, which had become clouded by rippling waves of black.

"Is that…AIDA?"

"**You foolish creatures…you have done us a great service…"**

"What?! What are you talking about?!"

"**By battling and defeating our copies of your beloved friend, you have assisted us in scattering our existence throughout this world…"**

Aura dropped to her knees. "No…you mean…"

"**What you thought would liberate your friend, only assisted in signing the warrant of your total annihilation."**

The mass of black began rippling futher, twisting and contorting.

"**It is time…for this world to end. The human race's destruction begins now!"**

From the rippling mass came a gigantic sphere of black.

"Is this it?"

The sphere dropped slowly, descending upon The World like an angry god.

"This is the end…we…have failed…"

All around The World, players, NPC's, Programs, all of them watched the massive black orb approach.

_**There's nothing you can do to stop it now…but now isn't what we want…it's later that matters…**_

Understanding what was happening, Natsume made up her mind. Her movement caught the eye of the rest of the group and they watched as she stomped over to Kite, slapped her hands on his cheeks and slammed her lips upon his. The single eye that was visible under all that hair widened in shock.

_**Maybe…just maybe…if we all work together…your lives wont end this day…**_

"Nat…sume?"

"Seven years…"

Her eyes opened and she stared into Kite's.

"I've been waiting seven years. If we're all going to die today, I'd rather go out knowing that I finally achieved what I wanted to do."

"…you weren't kidding were you?"

"No. The time we spent together was some of the best moments in my life…I never forgot you and I never will."

The sphere grew closer. The ground began shaking even more violently than before.

"I don't know-

"Don't speak. Just…listen to your heart…ok?"

"Natsume…"

"Thank you…Kite…"

With that…the world was covered in black…and they knew no more…

**

* * *

**

**Unknown Location…**

A pair of eyes snapped open. They flared brown…then red…then finally silver.

_**It's not over yet…**_

_**The sound of the Holy One rings…**_

* * *

This is it. The beginning of the end. The first of the last three chapters. I might put up an epilogue, I might not. We'll have to see. After I'm done, I'll update my profile with the "soundtrack" for this story.

Sister of Kyuubi: Sorry, but it's almost over. I'm going for the epic feeling of endings though. Expect some serious action and surprise. As for who wrote that message…you'll just have to find out ne?

It's almost time…


	17. Million Points of Light

"Sir! Massive distortions in the system! The corruption is spreading!"

All over the CC Corp building, phones rang, computers glitched…generally everything started messing up.

"We're getting flooded with calls from parents stating their children are in comas!"

"What about the other branches?"

"It's the same thing! Everything is going haywire! The network is crashing!"

"The entire internet…"

"Corruption at forty-three percent!"

"Communications are nearly offline!"

"Fifty-Seven percent!"

"The stock market is crashing! Numbers are going all over the place!"

"Sixty-Nine percent!"

"Traffic signals are chaotic! Mass accidents are spreading!"

"Seventy-Five percent!"

"Control tower access has been purged! Every plane in the air is flying blind!"

"Eighty-two percent!"

"Weapon systems are green! Missiles are about to be fired!"

"Ninety-one percent!"

"Communication systems around the world have blacked out!"

"Ninety-nine point nine percent!"

Suddenly, the power went out.

"This is it…it's all over…"

"Gentlemen, ladies…it has been an honor."

Suddenly, someone's cell phone began to ring.

"What the hell?"

The sound was echoed by another, and another. Everyone present who owned a cell phone was startled by its ring.

"Why are…"

All over the world, people's phones began to ring. Everyone flipped them open to find a single message.

_**It's not over yet.**_

(BGM: Valkyrie Profile 2 – How Wicked Ruler)

Suddenly a blinding light shot from their phones. Across the globe, every network device with a screen began to flare a blinding silver light. Cell phones, computers, laptops…anything that could connect to the internet began to shine. From space, on the single rocket orbiting the planet, floating, the people aboard saw the entire planet light up like a star.

"What the hell is happening down there?"

Of course, moments after that question was asked, the phenomenon affected the crew on the ship as well.

**Trials of a Goddess**

**Chapter XIV: Million Points of Light**

All anyone could see was black…but suddenly a series of cracks began to appear in their vision. Within seconds the cracks splintered and the blackness shattered into a massive wave of black dots flying into the air.

Natsume, who was clutching Kite, looked around.

"What…happened? Aren't we supposed to be dead?"

"**What?! Impossible!"**

"You're wrong."

Everyone whirled around to see a young man standing alone, away from the group. Black hair lowered down to his shoulders, framing a face of light brown skin. He wore a black button up shirt that looked to be made from silk. On the sleeves, that ended midway down his biceps, and on the bottom of the shirt, was the image of a silver flame. He wore a pair of green pajamas with the words "Legend of Zelda" and the image of a light pink faced young man wearing a green cap and tunic holding a sword and shield or a bow patterned on it. Silver eyes stared lazily at the world.

"Although, I must admit, I almost didn't expect it to work."

"ZERO-KUN!"

Mikoto flat out ran to the young man and jumped into his arms, crying.

"I thought you were gone forever!"

"Ne, Miko-chan…I'm fine."

"**YOU! But…how?! You were trapped within!"**

"I was. But you forgot to keep an eye on the seal holding me back. I was able to get a message out to the players to prepare them for what you were planning. Then, you put all your entire being into that one move, something that released me from my prison, which let me add my own power to theirs."

"**Power? What power?!"**

"The power of the human spirit. Something a corrupted program like yourself would never comprehend."

"**Then that light was-**

"The light of the human soul, yes. My message was two-fold. On the one hand, it warned everyone of what was to come, and how little they could do against it. On the other, it united millions of people together under one wish. The wish to continue to survive."

"Xenmaru-nii!"

The rest of the group dashed over to him only to freeze as a wave of black particles raced towards him.

"Look out!"

A literal lance of black dots rocketed toward where the young man stood. He simply blinked. The dots launched a massive cloud of writhing black hands, all intent on ensnaring the young man. Aura, though still exhausted from the previous battle, attempted to stop the attack…but she was too late. The hands were too close.

But then…they were deflected.

He didn't move a muscle…but the hands were suddenly all embedded into the ground on his sides.

"**But…how?!"**

"Mind over Matter. Another clause a program like yourself wouldn't understand. You did quite well mimicking what I would be able to do in this world…but…your copies weren't even free…thus…they are no match for the original."

"**We shall see about that!"**

Suddenly a mass of black appeared not too far from Zero. It turned into an exact copy of him. The copy summoned a black sword and launched itself at the young man.

Again, Zero didn't even blink.

The copy was inches away when it was frozen in place, a look of shock on its face. Zero simply blinked and suddenly the copy's sword arm was twisted in five different places. An inhuman howl of pain erupted from its mouth…a howl that was instantly turned into a gurgle as a silver lance had suddenly embedded itself in its throat.

Again, he hadn't moved a single muscle.

Haseo couldn't help but voice his thoughts.

"HOLY SHIT!"

The copy looked with wide eyes at the original.

"Pathetic…"

This time, Zero did move. He raised his hand and placed a single finger on the copy's forehead.

"You can't even die right."

Immediately, the copy was blasted into hundreds of black dots, head first.

"**Such…negativity from you…"**

"I'm done playing a role. What you see before you is who I am. A cold, unhappy, depressed being who is stuck in a world that's constantly at risk of destruction from outside forces. Even the saving grace of being able to do crazy shit like this isn't enough to satisfy me. But I know one thing that will help…"

"**What would that be?"**

"Your demise."

His eyes flashed and the ground around him warped outwards as six gigantic green roots covered in thorns launched themselves at the collective mass of black. The black mass launched its own rays of corrupted black light at the roots and withered them to nothing. However, before they all withered, the thorns launched themselves and turned into glowing red spears of flame that rocketed towards the wall of AIDA.

"Whoa…he's not even moving!"

"Is this real? Can a human mind really be capable of such acts of control over a digital realm?"

Zero spoke, without taking his eyes off the black mass, not moving, but somehow directing all his attacks.

"This world was created for the sole purpose of birthing the ultimate life form, a perfect existence, an eternal twilight of light and dark, the child Aura. A world like this, created from a single man's dream, is more than capable of being twisted and warped to the will of humans as long as their heart and minds are strong enough. The living flesh of mortals binds the soul to the realm of life, something that is not the case for myself. As such, I can have the same amount of manipulatory control over The World as the very being that was spawned from it."

A massive dome of black surrounded him and the group as the AIDA wall launched ray after ray of energy blasts down. Zero continued.

"You Epitaph Wielders have a semblance of this power. You change your form to that of one of the Eight Phases of the Cursed Wave to combat powerful opponents that your normal forms cannot defeat. In these forms you are given the power of Data Drain, a skill that allows the wielder to distort this world's "reality" and change it in whatever way they wish."

"**You are skilled…but tell me…how can you handle facing your own allies?!"**

A wave of black launched to the ground and turned into Doppelgangers of the very group he stood with. Everyone drew their weapons.

NOW he moved.

"Don't. I'll handle this myself. You've done enough."

"But…Zero-sama."

"It's fine."

"**Wait…what are you doing?"**

"You don't think that I'm gonna let all that power go to waste do you?"

"**What are you…no…"**

Zero stepped forward.

(BGM: Disturbed – Ten Thousand Fists)

He raised his right hand to the sky.

"I think its time I showed you the true power of the human spirit…"

Outside, in the physical world, orbiting the planet, the satellites from every country that had launched any began shifting. They positioned themselves on each tip of the planet's axis. Above, below, on its left, on its right, in front and behind. The lights of the glowing objects all fired up to those satellites. The rays were then fired to the other lights, forming a diamond around the planet. The points of the diamond then all fired the lights back upon the planet.

A massive beam of light fired down onto Zero's hand. He focused his mind and within his hand formed Skeith's Staff…only instead of red…this one was Silver. Suddenly the top point of the staff grew till it was the same length as the lower half. Zero held the staff, now a double ended sword, by the center. He twirled it around his body and then launched himself at the nearest shadow.

Shadow Natsume tried bringing her blades down upon Zero, but was deflected into the air. He then jumped up and kicked her in the face, knocking her into Shadow Pai. Shadows Ovan and Kuhn tried to shoot Zero, but he ducked under their shots, and they struck each other. He then slammed one tip of his blade into the chest of Shadow Shino, following with a vertical swing, lobbing off the head of Shadow Bo.

Shadow Aina tried launching a spell at him, but a wall of light deflected it right back at her, which was then followed by a sword sticking out from her chest, ending her. He spun the blade around him deflecting Shadow Haseo's shots and kicked him away, twisting his body to evade Shadow Pai's punch and slamming an energy charged hand into her face, ending her as well.

"He has become even more graceful than before…"

Indeed, his movements were like a deadly dance. Ducking and twisting, weaving and twirling, each movement precisely measured and executed. A vertical double slash followed by a back flip to avoid Shadow Saku's spell. A quick flick of his wrist launching a wave of flame at Shadow Atoli, and then bringing his blade horizontally across Shadow Alkaid's midsection. A lance of ice into Shadow Endrance's chest, and then a bolt of lighting into Shadow Mikoto. He tossed his weapon into the air gathered the light into his fist and summoned a glyph beneath him.

"Damn annoying bastards…die already!"

Pillars of light fired into the sky from the edges of the glyph, circling inward. The light in his fist intensified.

"_**Akashic Torment!"**_

He slammed his fist upon the center of the glyph, and a huge beam of light shot into the sky, rings of energy surrounding it, ripping the remaining shadows apart…all except one.

"Figures you'd be the last."

Shadow Aura raced at him but was knocked back by a fist to the face.

"I never did forgive you for killing Alicia."

He looked over to the real Aura.

"Be glad this things around, or I'd be doing this to you instead…"

He turned and faced the Shadow Aura.

"I shall cleave from thee the breath of life."

The world went black.

Zero's form appeared; he thrust the dual edged sword out, pommel in front of him. It vanished from his finger tips. The sword reappeared, hovering in front of the Shadow Aura. It flickered and then split into three lights, each forming a copy of it. The copies floated for a second and then turned into beams of light that swirled around and then slammed into the Shadow Aura repeatedly. The beams bounced her around for a few moments, knocking her all over the blackness like a tennis ball, until a giant transparent web of light appeared and formed a cube around her, suspending her in place. The three weapons appeared again.

One on the upper left, one on the upper right, and another directly below the cube. They all glowed. The upper left one turned into a giant spear and slammed into the cube, straight through Shadow Aura. The same thing happened with the upper right. The bottom one skewered her from below, right between the legs, forming a sort of X with a vertical line through it. Away from the cube stood Zero, the original blade appearing in his hand. He held it in front of him like a staff, and suddenly the two points on the cross that weren't blades jutted out and became blades. Now it looked like he was holding the blades of a windmill.

He crossed his hands and split the blades apart, so now he held two exact bladed fan shaped weapons.

"_**SHINGI!"**_

He launched the two windmill weapons like giant shuriken. First the right, then the left. The two weapons turned into whirling disks of death and sliced straight through the impaled Shadow Aura…but he still wasn't done. He raised his arms above and behind him, as if grasping something. A single blade appeared in his hands.

"_**Shinigami no Tsurugi!"**_

He brought his arms down in a heavy overhead swing and a massive beam of silver light formed into a crescent shaped wave and slashed through the bound copy, creating a large explosion.

Aura paled. His words rang through her head. _I…I can't believe it…he's…still upset? But…such power…even I wouldn't be able to survive an attack like that…_

"You're lucky…Zero-kun was quite serious when he said he'd have done that to you."

Aura nodded fearfully. "I…don't doubt it…"

"**Damn you…I will put an end to this now!"**

The mass wall of AIDA twisted and turned into a large dragon.

"I swear, giant fuck-off dragons must be the new fad…"

He shook his head.

"Oh well…it's time to end this…"

Everyone blinked as his body began to glow.

"This next act…will end you for good."

* * *

And there you have it. The voice was Zero, the player behind Xenmaru all along. The next chapter is the last! It will be a single fight, and then after that, I WILL put up an epilogue…hehehehe….hahahahaha…oooh you're gonna hate me…or maybe you'll love me…who knows…the final battle will begin soon!

Oh and before I forget, I wont be responding to reviews at the end of the next chapter, nor the epilogue. So if you want me to reply, either leave a signed review, or leave your email with the review, and I'll gladly contact you after. I want to keep these final two chapters free of author's notes to add to the epicness. And also, on my profile, after this story is done, I'll post the names of the songs used in BOTH of these stories. Think of it as a mini-soundtrack listing.

Arcon1: Oh you'll get your icing…but…no promises that it'll be the flavor you like…hehehehe…I can't help but laugh at the thought of how you're all going to react to the epilogue…


	18. Final Chapter

(BGM: IOSYS: Bewildering Impending Spiriting Away – Border of Death)

"Once you have a hope without fear, nothing exists to keep you away from it. It appears at a field called black death. You will face a soul in the under world. When you never fear the death of yourself, you have a might into the deeper side. Dawn never comes here, the hidden side…"

"_It is the time to come."_

**Trials of a Goddess**

**Reverse Rebirth**

After Zero incanted those words, a massive wave of power erupted from him. The six chosen wielders of the Guardians felt the presence of their allies vanish. Six glowing orbs of light raced over to, and surrounded Zero. A seventh, silver light emerged from him and floated in front of his body. The six other lights began spinning fiercely, and then slammed into him. A series of glowing black ghostly broadswords appeared out of thin air, also surrounding him. The swords rotated around him in the form of an X around his body. The group stood in awe as six glowing silver wings of light emerged from his back.

"So _that's _what that did…"

They turned to Mikoto, who elaborated.

"While I was in his mind, I heard those words. I asked him what they meant and he said that it came from one of his favorite songs…it became a mantra of his. He said he hoped it never came time to use it…"

"But damn, look at him! Why wouldn't he WANT to use something like that?"

Aura spoke. "Perhaps…there is some form of drawback to using it…?"

"**Incredible…simply incredible…the last hope of the human race…I shall enjoy stamping out your light!"**

"That's…what you think."

He vanished. A spear of light rocketed towards the dragon. It bounced off its claw and then raced around behind the beast. There was a flash, and then a massive wave of black flame slammed into the dragon's torso. It roared in pain, which allowed for a series of glowing pale blue spikes to impale its left wing.

The dragon swung its claw wildly, knocking Zero away. He quickly recovered and shot to the dragon's left leg, evading the wave of lightning that fired from the dragon's other claw. The massive beast suddenly flipped over, as Zero had latched onto its tail and yanked it over its head. He shot into the air, and then dropped down instantly, slamming a foot into the dragon's chest, knocking it down into the 'ground'.

Aura couldn't help but watch intently. "This is…by all means impossible…but yet…it's still happening. Is this what my father wanted? Is this the power I was meant to attain?"

Suddenly a series of flashes appeared around Zero. In one hand he held a sphere of fire, in the other, a glowing orb of earth. He slammed the two together in front of him, and a wave of lava erupted from the collision, slamming into the area the dragon just vacated, for it recovered in time to move away.

Irritated, Zero drew a circle in the air with one of the swords, which was quickly replaced by another. He drew a six pointed star within the circle, then slammed his free hand into it.

"CELESTIAL STAR!"

A series of beams of holy light erupted from the circle, all of them impacting the giant creature. It responded by launching a beam of its own at Zero, who flung up his hands, creating a barrier. The beam splintered across the wall of light, and then faded.

"**This…should not be…"**

"Maybe…but it is. Now DEAL WITH IT!"

He flickered in front of the dragon and slammed his fist into its face, right between its eyes. The dragon howled and swiped at him, but he simply ducked out of the way and jammed his sword into the dragon's wrist, swinging along in a circular motion around it. Finally he leapt off and made a final slash, which sliced the dragon's claw clean off.

The claw fell to the earth and was about to break apart into AIDA particles, when a series of rainbow beams slammed into it, shattering it to pieces. The beams came from two directions. One being from Zero, and the other being from-

"Kite!"

"It's obvious we wont be able to do much…but at least I can do something!"

"Hmph, not bad, you actually beat me to it by about a half second. Point to you Kite."

Kite smiled at the recognition and nodded.

The dragon, now extremely enraged, slammed into Zero with its full body. The group gasped, but then a wave of light erupted from its other claw, sending its entire right arm flying towards the ground. This time three beams fired towards it. Two reaching and destroying it just before the third did.

"Dammit!"

Zero turned to see Kite and Zefie smiling at him.

"Stealin my thunder…"

He didn't notice as the dragon launched a wave of energy at him. He turned just in time to see a wall of light meters away.

"Oh shit!"

There was a flicker of movement in front of him, and suddenly the wave was dispelled. Aura floated in front of him, hair streaked purple, panting.

"Not today…NOT EVER!"

The girl launched herself at the dragon, becoming little more than a silver and purple blur repeatedly slamming into the dragon from multiple angles.

"Damn…that girl's got game…but she's stealin my thunder again!"

The dragon slammed its tail into Aura, sending the goddess flying. She was going to slam right into the ground, but Zero swooped down and caught her in time.

"See? That's what happens when people steal my thunder. Let me handle this."

He gave her a kiss on the forehead.

"But thanks. That wave would have hurt."

He slowly floated back up.

"I'm tired of this…it ends here."

"**You've not the-…wait…what are you doing?!"**

"Did you know that when all seven chaos emeralds are gathered, the holder is granted neigh unlimited power for a short amount of time?"

"**Chaos…emeralds?"**

"Oh right, sorry, I forgot that you're an idiot."

Floating around Zero were six glowing jewels. In his hand rest a seventh. The rings of swords around him became solid lines of energy.

"Anyway, the seven emeralds represent the seven main elements of the universe. When all seven are gathered, a 'miracle' occurs. What that is depends on who gathered them."

The jewels began to shine.

"Now tell me…what do you think will happen…when I do this…?"

He raised the gem above his head. The rings of light surrounded it. The six other gems fired small beams of light towards the seventh.

"Do you know the best way to start when you're trying to fix anything wrong with a computer?"

"**NO!"**

"That's right…you hit the reset button…"

**REVERSE REBIRTH**

A massive wave of light erupted from the jewel, engulfing everything in its path. The light covered all of The World, and eventually the energy reached the rest of the internet. Anyone logged into any game, was immediately ejected. Every single particle of AIDA was eradicated…

The World was purified…

And the Net was returned to normal…

* * *

Remember, when you review, if you're not logged in, leave an e-mail address so I can reply. This is the final chapter. Both this and the epilogue will be posted at the same time…have fun! 


	19. Epilogue

**Epilogue**

(BGM: Final Fantasy X – To Zanarkand)

Aura sat cross legged on her bed. Laying in her lap was Aina, who was sighing softly in content as the elder AI stroked her hair. Ovan sat across from the two, a pensive look on his face.

"That was certainly an…interesting story you've told us…"

"A vision…of what is to come should we continue on our current path."

"You say you saw all this while you slept?"

"Yes."

"But why would you be concerned? It sounded like everything ended well for you."

"I didn't finish. You see, the story ends there, but the effects of what happened do not."

"What do you mean nee-chan?"

"Within two years…the human race…no…all life on the planet Earth is wiped out."

"WHAT?!"

She held up a hand.

"While it is true, Zero Shinzaki was able to reverse most of the damage done by the AIDA's final attack…for the most part it succeeded. The strain on the network from so many major battles in such a short amount of time was truly irreparable. For a year, everything seemed fine, but in the second year after that final battle, random errors would occur. At first, small, but soon they grew bigger and bigger. Entire systems crashed, computers shut down, communications were cut completely. And then…the missiles launched."

"No…"

"Yes. A hidden command, something not even I knew of, was sent to the very depths of the systems containing the access commands of the worlds Nuclear Missiles. One that dictated when communications were once again cut, they would launch. And launch they did. Within hours the planet was engulfed by hundreds of nuclear explosions, wiping out all life. The AIDA won."

"Impossible…could nobody stop it?"

"Nobody noticed until it was too late. Outside access to those systems were cut. There wasn't a thing that could be done."

"That's…so sad…"

"Yes, and it _will _happen here, if we don't do something to stop it."

"Indeed…however…meddling with time like this…is it such a good idea?"

"Someone wanted me to see these things while I slept. The internet is the one physical thing that can connect the past, present and future. The world's history is on the net, current events, and even speculations of the future. Eventually our present will become our past, and our future our present. That is the nature of time. The internet immortalizes these moments. For as long as one person remembers, and places the information within the net, it will remain forever."

She took a deep breath.

"These events occurred because of the problems that arose from the day of my conception. The moment Morgana became corrupted, the world was slated for its inevitable destruction. However, as we've seen, there have been moments where the world's destiny was able to be shifted. We have fought countless times to protect this world, mostly from forces humans themselves have created. But this time, we will lose unless something is done before it is too late."

"What can we do though?"

"I've already started taking measures. Do you know what today is?"

"The day that…Zero first grabbed the staff…"

"He is the key. There probably would be others with potential abilities like him, but he is the one we know. I've hacked into the systems of the building he lives in and set off a fire alarm, routing the source to be from his apartment. As I told you of my visions, I've been checking the network to see if the call was heeded, and it has been. He is still in a coma…but unlike the original course, he is safe in a hospital bed, where he will be monitored and cared for."

"Nee-chan…are you sure? I thought you loved him…"

"I do…did…will…I don't know. But if there's one thing I've learned, its that sometimes you have to let the one you love go, for things to be right. He is still in a coma, and will remain that way until Morgana gains a piece of herself back. When he awakens, he will stay in that coma for a while, until his mind recovers. During that time, I will meet with him. And then give him a choice. Remain in this world, where he is free, or return to his own, returning to the life of a normal human playing an online game."

"That…is quite mature of you Aura. Not many would be able to make a decision like that."

"It's because of him really…the time Alicia spent with him…I learned a great deal from that."

"He never did forgive you though…"

"In time he allowed his acceptance of events to show. He understands and accepts things quite quickly, but doesn't show it often unless someone deserves to know. He's a very good actor, playing the role of the angry one who lost the person he loved for a greater cause. He even had the other me convinced he hated her. It's how he lets things run their course."

"Strange one isn't he?"

"Yes, but…very worth it."

A small blush was on her face as she said that.

"I wont ask for details."

"Good…"

"So what will be done now?"

"I will continue to change certain events. Hopefully, by catching the problem before it grows, we can stop what is to come, from happening."

"And Zero?"

"Like I said, I'll meet with him…and spend time with him."

"Wouldn't he be a bit intimidated to know who you are?"

"Oh he wont be meeting Aura the Goddess of The World, but Aura Hoerwick-Wielant, daughter of the Creator of The World, and the one he loved. A player with some…advanced abilities."

"When he finds out…"

"I hope to tell him myself. After I tell him of his situation. I plan on telling him who I am, and what I seek. It will be up to him what happens next…but either way, the world should continue…"

"And what of your other half?"

"After I finish here, I plan on seeking her out. I sense she saw the same vision I did, so hopefully the meeting will go well…it was her…who was in love with him first…after all."

Ovan stood and Aina sat up.

"What shall I tell the others?"

"Have Yata summon them to Net Slum. I will inform Zelkova of what is happening. I plan on creating a set of blades for Alkaid to change her class, as well as sending e-mails to Kite, Balmung and Orca to return to The World. Hopefully…my matchmaking skills crossed over from the other timeline…"

"You plan on setting Kite and Natsume up together?"

"Seven years Ovan…seven years she pined for him, waited, and hoped. Not once did she release his memory, not once did she give up searching for him. Some would constitute that as actions of a stalker…but she honestly loves him. To the point where she would do anything for him. Something like that should be honored. Of course it will be his choice, but…I plan on…influencing things a bit."

"Indeed. Well Aura, I thank you for allowing me the chance to hear such a story…I shall begin efforts at once."

"You have my gratitude Ovan. With luck, perhaps we can change the destiny of this world…I sense it is not yet time for it to end."

"Ne, good luck catching him Nee-chan! I wanna meet him too!"

"You will Aina, I promise."

The two PCs warped out of the field.

"**You plan on seeking him don't you?"**

Aura simply stared into space.

"Wouldn't you…my shadow?"

From a swirling ripple of darkness, the one called Alicia stepped out.

"…**I saw it too…he was…"**

"Yes. Please…I know how you feel towards me…but…"

"**I'm not stupid. I saw what you saw. I don't like you, I don't like much of anything really…but I saw him…I saw how much I loved him…WE loved him…I can't just let that go."**

"So then you'll-

"**I'm only doing this for me. The fact that you get something out of it pisses me off…but…it's the only way. Just don't screw this up."**

Aura smiled at her counterpart.

"I promise…I won't."

And with that, the darker side of Aura met with the light…and once again, the Goddess of The World was complete.

"Zero…I promise…things will be different…"

* * *

It was all a dream. I bet that came out of nowhere huh? Everything you've seen, everything you read…never happened. A vision of the future. But the future has changed now. With Aura's interference of Zero's death…now the world is on an unknown path.

What will happen? Will they succeed? Will things ultimately fail? Who knows?

Maybe you'll find out. Maybe I'll leave it up to your minds to make your own ideas. But for now.

All that matters is…

This story…is over…


End file.
